Scamming on all fronts is on the rise with individuals over the age of 60 comprising the group who fall prey most frequently to fraudulent behavior. The Federal Trade Commission (FCC) that investigates consumer and private fraudulent activity in the United States reported 12.5 billion a 25% increase of such activity since 2023. Because it is consumer focused relying on voluntary reporting, this figure probably underestimates the real amount of money lost in such activities. Even, more astonishing, the FBI that investigates internet crime on the corporate level reported 16 billion in losses in 2024 a 33% increase from 2023.
Lisa and I recently returned from a lovely vacation in Washington State where we have been going for close to 30 years. Lisa had booked our rent a car online from a site titled: Car Rentals and had spoken to a real person saying he represented Avis. He assured her that if she paid half of the rental now, we would not have to wait on line but could go directly to pick up our car. When we arrived at the Seattle Airport, we went to the Avis counter where there was a huge line of people waiting to pick up their cars. I walked up to the front and presented a woman at the counter our reservation that Lisa had but because we were not premier customers, she said we still had to wait our turn. Not being so easily dissuaded, I walked down to the garage where the cars were and showed our reservation to an Avis representative, but she also said we would need to stand on line, to get service. Irritated I returned, told Lisa the bad news and we waited for at least 45 minutes.
When we finally went to the counter, we received more bad news: We had been scammed. At the counter, the manager of Avis instantly recognized the scam: Someone had given us a Boeing Employee’s Discount code! Although there was no car awaiting our arrival, we were fortunate enough to get a car rental for the two-week trip we had planned. I immediately notified my credit card of the date; the name and the amount of money Lisa had paid with them agreeing to send my inquiry to their fraud department. Ultimately, they removed the charge of $530 from my account.
Although Lisa had tried to book our car through Costco, she had difficulty getting to their actual site. Because we have used Costco in the past for car rentals, in planning a short trip to Florida, I thought it would be worth giving Costco another try. However, this time I immediately asked the man who responded whether he represented Costco. He said he did so I gave him the time and place I needed to pick up a car. He gave me a price of $599. When I asked him what company I would be renting from, he said Budget. He then started pressing me for the payment of the rental, whereupon I became suspicious given the plight of our last car rental. When I again asked him if was an employee of Costco, he then told me he represented Costco and other companies again pressed me for the payment. I told him I would need to think about it inasmuch as I was concerned he not only represented Costco but other agencies. I then decided to call Budget and, incredibly enough, reached a real representative from Budget who quoted me a price of $350 for the exact same rental the “Costco” representative had asked $599. Whether he was legitimate or not, it was clear that the price he had quoted was not a good one. Bottom line is, as my partner Pierre, from the Senior Police Partners (SPP) told me, nowadays it is best to deal directly with the company with whom you wish to rent a car.
Let me point out that my wife, Lisa, is not a naïve individual with regard to scammers or potential fraudulent situations. The link of Car Rental and the person she spoke to appeared to know what he was doing. Unfortunately, the scam artists are becoming more adept at their schemes and with the aid of AI they are more than likely to hone their skills on those of us who are uninitiated. The consequence of such behavior becoming more and more prevalent might result in more guarded behavior amongst us all. All this does not augur well for the future but, regardless, it is best to be prepared for what awaits us.
Although there are all sorts of ways where fraudulent behavior can occur, I will discuss two different types that cover a large amount of
the behavior perpetrated by scam artists. I will categorize these two areas as: 1) Fast Action and 2) Slow Burn Scams. The fast action kind of scam occurs when the perpetrator instructs the victim to immediately make a payment of some nature. The slow burn scam involves the scammer making an effort to know you and to develop a relationship with you. The common theme of this latter scam is the perpetrator’s feigning a romantic relationship with the purported victim.
In many ways the fast action scam is concordant with the way we function in the modern world. If you ever have bought a car, bought a home or even rented an apartment, the person wanting to make the sale demands your attention immediately. I remember when buying my first property, a condo, it was as if nothing was more important than my immediately putting a bid in the moment the broker called. He indicated if I delayed, I would probably lose out on the deal. Moreover, advertised promotions always have a deadline, for example, buy on Labor Day, if you want the reduced price of the item. The urgency of how the modern world functions aids and abets the perpetrator in his/her scam efforts.
Years ago, an elderly woman, who was a member of the temple I belong to, fell prey to the fast action scam. She received a phone call from an individual who impersonated the voice of her granddaughter causing her to believe that, in fact, it was her granddaughter with whom she was speaking. The impersonator told this woman that she had been falsely accused of an injury accident resulting in her being imprisoned where she was being treated harshly. She pleaded with her grandmother to post bail for her of $7000 that she guaranteed would be returned. She was instructed where and how to wire the money and to do so, immediately. Soon after the phony transaction had been completed, the victim contacted her daughter, the mother of her granddaughter, and discovered to her shock her granddaughter was safe and sound not ever having been in an accident. Despite reporting what had happened to her, legal authorities were unable to trace where her money had gone resulting in her inability to recoup any of the money, a significant loss for her insofar as she was living on a fixed income.
An easy way to avoid falling prey to scams involving relatives is to have an agreed password that is shared by the family. If the caller does not know the password, you are most likely not talking to whomever family member he/she claims to be. This solution gives you a signal that saves you before you get too deep into conversation.
A while back I too was a near victim of the fast action scam. I had received texts and emails about a promotion in which DIRECTV and eBay were sponsoring a year free subscription for DIRECTV subscribers. After having seen the promotion for several months, I believed it might be for real so I proceeded to dial the 800 number listed. When I spoke to the person, he appeared to know what my payments were to DIRECTV and, he asked me for my password that I foolishly gave to him. He explained that the process could be completed by my simply buying a gift card of $500 from eBay and relaying the numbers on the back of the card to him. He added that in order for the promotion to hold I had to get the gift card before 5 p.m. giving me suggested places in Long Beach I would be able to purchase it. At this point I became suspicious. Something didn’t sound right. Besides Lisa had listened in on the conversation and had advised me no to go along with what to her sounded like a scheme. When I told him I could not do it so soon, he then said due to my canceling I would have to pay him half the fee or $250 and demanded my credit card identification. I knew better than to give him the needed information on my credit card to make a payment.
The story does not end there. A few hours later I received a call from DIRECTV confirming whether or not I was going on vacation and wanted to stop my subscriber use of their service for two months. Extremely annoyed, I told the representative that I had been scammed and had mistakenly given my password to the fraudulent party. He informed me of the ruse that had been going on for several months and advised me, of course, to change my password. The scammer wanted to get even with me when I didn’t fall into the trap he was laying. I guess some people will stop at nothing to make a point no matter how dishonest it may be. Gift card numbers are not traceable so my advice is to never give this information to a stranger that you do not know.
Scammers can quite easily reproduce a picture of you with your bio information on social media gaining your network of connections. Then they initiate a phishing attack: They will send an innocent sounding statement on your scammed Facebook page asking your friends how they are doing. Based on your friends’ response, they will continue the conversation in an amiable way. If your friends continue to respond to their inquiries, eventually they will tell them about a scheme of how you can make lots of money by simply offering some small sum online. Rest assured this is all fake and it is best to avoid it from the start. You can verify the validity of the message by simply contacting the person who is supposedly sending it. When I discovered my bio info was stolen when people were wishing me birthday greetings on the wrong date, I sent a post to all my friends warning them my Facebook Id had been scammed. Moreover, in the post I stated I never solicit any type of funds be they charity or not on any social media. After changing my password to a much more secure one, the problem of falsifying my information stopped.
Romantic scams fall into the second category of fraud that I have labeled the slow burn. People that are isolated and lonely, often the elderly, are likely victims of such scams. A while back, a distant friend reported how he had taken the bait, hook line and sinker, for a romance he sought overseas. He was married to an Asian woman and always had been attracted to Asian women. He had become frustrated with his marriage believing that his wife did not spend sufficient time with him. Rather than directly confront her with his marital woes, he started looking up Asian dating sites and found one that intrigued him inasmuch as it offered both romantic adventure and financial ventures. When he contacted the site, he began speaking to and later seeing her online. To his great satisfaction she listened to his marital qualms reinforcing his emotional needs. After a few months, she proposed a business venture in which if he became a partner would become profitable. She lured him with the idea that they could meet and share the benefits not only financially, but also romantically. Enthralled, he did not bother to check the authenticity of her promises and, with the passage of time had invested in her “company” thirty thousand dollars.
Although she continued to cajole him asking for more money to better the chances of them both profiting, he woke up to the fact that he was losing much of what he and his wife had shared. When he discovered that the company this woman had induced him to join was bogus, he tried to get his money returned. His attempts were fruitless. When he confessed his infidelity to his wife, she was infuriated. With the help of a therapist and his apologetic gestures toward his wife, she did not leave him. Although this story had a happy ending, many people seeking romance that are isolated and older are single, divorced or widowed and do not have a wife as my friend had. It is these people, especially older men, that are vulnerable to this type of scam.
There are several reasons related to the increase of scams. One evident one is that AI voice clones, deep fake videos and fake identities are becoming more unrecognizable due to advances in AI employed with fraudulent intent. Another is that scammers presently have more contact channels, such as social media, to carry out their schemes. Moreover, the use of cryptocurrency as the basis of a scamming network makes recovery of losses impossible due to the payments being irreversible. Ironically, the overall lack of trust that individuals currently feel toward once respectable institutions make people less likely to follow or listen to credible alerts in the community. To conclude, the Latin phrase of old, caveat emptor, that is let the buyer beware, is more important than ever to abide by in these times.
Dr. Bernard F. Natelson 