Stung

[rootbeer1]

Sorry I haven't posted this week, but my mom has been visiting and we've had to deal with a family crisis.

There is a special place in hell reserved for con artists who rip off senior citizens. If your parents are getting up in years, you may want to think about getting them these books: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Frauds, Scams and Cons and Fraud! How to Protect Yourself from Schemes, Scams and Swindles.

Don't just buy these books for your parents -- make sure they read them. Quiz them. Make sure you are involved in their lives and their financial decisions.

Comments

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I need to get those books for my husband. He's not quite a senior, but I think being retired has something to do with it. One day he gave out his checking account information over the phone to Republicans! When I found out, I made him go to the bank the next day to close the account. Even though the "contribution" didn't go through, they still sent him a "free" flag and Tom Delay's office called him for months.

Now if I can just get him to stop responding to spam...

Yikes!

[keanubear.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. In fact I am pissed off it happens so much.

When we were in LA we went to a Denny's after the big concert. A 60 year old women was our waitresss. We gave her a huge tip. I just kept thinking of my mom being a waitress at a denny's at 2am or something. Made me feel really sad. I suppose she could have been really rich and just slumming, but I doubt it. She was working hard.

[standardtom.livejournal.com]

I know just how you feel about that.

My great-aunt, whom my family took care of, would fall for *anything*. And I think it was out of an overwhelming need to feel like she was still connected in a meaningful way to anyone, or anything. And I remember thinking at the time, "my parents would never fall for this kind of thing."

But as they're getting older themselves, I'm not so sure anymore, particularly about my mother. On the one hand, she has a high degree of paranoia about certain things (cross-cut shreds all her bills, and refuses to place credit card orders over a cordless phone, just in case someone is listening in), but I can still see certain elements in her that remind me of my great-aunt.

It's very scary. I think I'm going to do just as you advise, and buy those books for her. Just in case.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I did an Amazon search and those books just struck my eye as the kind of books I was looking for. There may be better books on avoiding fraud for seniors out there.