Recently, a sweet client called my office concerned about her granddaughter. This client had been contacted by an “attorney” in another state who was trying to help her granddaughter to get out of jail. The “attorney” needed this lady to send $22,000 immediately to get her granddaughter out of jail and every moment she delayed was another moment this young girl would be incarcerated. The “attorney” warned her she was under a gag order, so she could not talk to anyone about what was happening.
Thankfully, she called our office before sending the money. We took down some information and did some quick research. As expected, there was no attorney, no jail and no gag order.
Because our client called someone she trusted instead of reacting to the emotional appeal, she was not one of the numerous seniors who fall victim to financial fraud and exploitation each year.
According to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, “seniors lose more than $3 billion annually to financial scams.” While there are many ways in which scammers prey on seniors, there are three general categories of scams that we often see.
First, scammers often use Grandparent Scams, which are highly emotional and push urgency. Scammers may use a young man or young woman to say some generic phrases in order to convince the grandparent of their identity. Then the scammer…
