This is the second blog in the series. To view the first blog,
click here. Check back every Friday for the newest in this series.
Law enforcement agencies report a new twist to the slimy scams targeting seniors. Authorities in Delaware report criminals are targeting senior living facilities and retirement communities with a card scam. The beginning of the scam is pretty familiar: the senior receives a call from someone claiming to be with a Card brand (i.e. “Hi, I’m from Visa®” in this case). The caller states that their system crashed and they need information to reactivate the victim’s card. The caller knew enough about each victim to gain their trust and make them believe the caller was actually from Visa.
In one case, the victim was told in order to reactivate her card she would have to call a special number and once again provide her card details. The 90 year old woman called the number. Once she did that all of her calls were forwarded to another number, meaning, if someone tried to call her, they reached a recording. Authorities believe when she called the number her phone was forwarded. No reports if the compromised cards were used.
One more brief note: Last week the CFPB released a new publication that can help long-term care facilities protect older Americans from financial exploitation. You can get more information
HERE.