5 scams & spams targeted at seniors
One fine morning, my grandmother gave me a call while I was at work. She wanted to know her bank details and card number. As the custodian of her banking tasks, I couldn’t give it outright without investigating what she needed this information for. As I was in a meeting, I promised to get her banking sorted a bit later in the day.
A few minutes later, she gave me a call again saying that it was urgent and could not wait. So, I had to excuse myself from the meeting and sort this out for my grandmother.
I asked her the details regarding the pending bank transaction. She replied that the bank had called her to update their bank details for a special grant for seniors. And I said that was a great idea and asked her what the name of the bank clerk and the phone number so I could speak to them.
She replied that the call came from a private number and she would get a call at 3 PM again in the afternoon which sounded a bit off. So, I decided to go ahead and drive to her place and assist her in person.
At around 3:10, we got a call from a private number from a young lady who had a pushy sales driven tone. So, I took over the conversation from my grandmother and put the phone on loudspeaker.
The lady at the other end asked to read out the card number with the expiry date. This was the last straw and I had to raise my voice and take over the conversation. She quickly hung up the phone and I was in utter shock that If I hadn’t taken up the responsibility of my grandmother’s banking details, she would have been scammed outright.
When we began Helpee, one of our main concerns was to protect seniors and educate them on the emerging and evolving number of scams out there.
We decided to tie up with our own network of Helpee Hands who had the knack for technology and training. We created a couple of training programs and hands-on training manuals to get seniors more aware and empowered. These compilations of training modules are available at Helpee Digital.
To get an idea of the issue, let’s go through some of the most common scams and see how seniors are prone to these -
- Banking Related Scams
This is the most common scam reported in India with seniors being targeted at a very high rate. Scams such as this are extremely dangerous as it robs seniors of their hard earned cash.
Helpee founder Suman Choudhary can attest to this as he faced such a scam not too long ago. He was lucky enough to intervene at the right time when his in-laws were right in the middle of an infamous banking scam.
The scam had people operating as bank officials to offer seniors a much better rate on their savings, and in the process stealing card information along with the OTP number for transactions.
One of our core services at Helpee is Helpee Digital which is a program that trains seniors with all the essentials of avoiding scams and securing their banking details with extra protection. The program also focuses on how to approach any such instances to recognise genuine officials from scammers.
Even though there are plenty of videos and articles regarding how to avoid scams, we understood that seniors require hands-on training and one-on-one sessions to get a clear understanding of the latest technology. Hence, we highly recommend a Helpee Digital session for you or your loved ones.
2. Technology & Internet Scams
Internet scams that target seniors are a well organised and are a choreographed set of communications that force seniors to abide and pay such scammers.
This type of scam is quite effective with seniors as most of them are not aware of the technology and the internet. Scammers often target seniors with a trojan pop up, email or a direct phone call alarming them off a potential virus infection.
What amazes us about such scams is the constant updates and well written scripts that target the vulnerabilities of seniors.
Such scams flourish on the fact that seniors are more willing to listen and trust people if they have an authoritative tone of voice.
Helpee team member Bharat Pandey recognises the sophistication of such scams and has partnered up with tech enthusiasts to narrow down on terminologies related to such scams. He has compiled this list of baits into a training module which our Helpee Hands train seniors either in person or over a couple of phone calls.
3. Investments -
Investments are not scams per say but they are often schemed at uninformed or financially illiterate seniors. To be honest, we often fall for investment schemes as much as seniors do, but what separates us is that seniors have a substantial amount of bank savings.
A couple of years ago, my father introduced me to an investment consultant that he befriended. He was a well spoken and financially savvy person who had sold my father on his high yielding investment portfolio. I was interested as the returns were very high but due to lack of funds, I had to decline the offer.
Months later, my dad informed me that he lost a substantial amount with the and warned me to stay away from the consultant. Alarmed at the amount lost, I asked my dad why he didn’t stop when he saw a recurring pattern of losses accumulated. He replied that the consultant kept pressuring him to wait until positive returns.
My father is an educated man but he still fell for such a scheme which leads us to identify such investments that target seniors who have funds saved up.
A new and emerging trending scheme is crypto currency and the wild returns it promises. Our team decided to speak to the digital experts and financial advisors to plan out a program for seniors that quickly identifies such digital investment schemes.
If you would like to understand more about digital currencies and banking, book a session on Helpee Digital to get personal sessions from professional Helpee Hands who can educate you on the wild west that is digital investments.
4. Sweetheart Scams
Not as common in the west, sweetheart scams are slowly rising in India with seniors flocking to social media and the internet. Sweetheart scams are effective on seniors as it gives them a rush of adventure and connection with a person they meet online.
Single seniors are at most risk with scammers taking advantage of their vulnerabilities. Most cases of such sweetheart scams on social media end up in blackmailing huge sums of money.
Seniors can also reject pleas from family members and go ahead with the scam as they become addicted to the communication highs.
To tackle such scammers, family members must keep a close eye on vulnerable seniors.
Our Helpee Social was launched to address this issue of lonely seniors seeking engagement. Our close knit and growing community of like minded seniors help to bring purpose and a better quality of life.
Joining Helpee Social is quite simple. Sign up on Helpee and start meeting new people, join events, participate in celebrations, host activities and more.
5. Free Vacation
Have you ever received a free vacation offer either at the entrance of the supermarket or via an email? You’ve probably ignored it as it sounds too good to be true.
Seniors are more prone to such scams as they are excited at the opportunity of travel. Such marketing campaigns are designed in such a way that it becomes impossible to get out once you sign up.
We’ve had senior members in our families sign up for such an event . They receive a well written email brochure of the vacation along with a confirmation call. Seniors are thrilled at the images and conversation with the company rep that they agree to meet them at a said meetup point to claim their free vacation tickets.
What awaits them is a highly orchestrated sales pitch to sign up for a monthly subscription with a travel agency to claim the free offer. The sales pitch is designed in such a way that the subscription prices are broken into days rather than months to make the contribution amount look small.
We are currently seeing an evolving trend in these spams targeted at seniors and we highly urge anyone that are looking for prizes to rethink and consult with loved ones.
All of these scams, spams and schemes can be explained well with hands-on training in the latest technology by our trusted Helpee Hand. Feel free to book a session on Helpee Digital for just R.S. 450 per hour.
P.S. Don’t forget to join our social community at Helpee Social by simply signing up here.
