Beware of Senior Scams谨防涉老年人诈骗

Although it’s inconceivable1 that people would take advantage of the elderly， there is an increasing number of senior scams targeting this vulnerable population2. These unscrupulous3 people are skilled at gaining the trust of senior citizens so they can rob them of their money or identities.

虽然难以想象有人会利用老年人，但针对老年人这一弱势群体的诈骗越来越多。这些无良之人善于获得老年人的信任，从而骗取他们的钱财或身份信息。

This detailed guide covers typical scams and offers some great tips for protecting against fraud.

本指南内容详尽，涵盖了几种典型的诈骗手段，并给出了一些防范诈骗的重要建议。

Why is scamming the elderly easy？

为什么老年人容易遭受诈骗？

According to senior scams statistics compiled by the American Journal of Public Health， about 5% of seniors become victims of fraudulent schemes every year. This percentage probably doesn’t even give an accurate picture of this problem as many scams go unreported.

根据《美国公共卫生杂志》汇总的涉老年人诈骗统计数据，每年约有5%的老年人遭受诈骗。这个百分比也许还没准确反映这个问题，因为许多诈骗没人报案。

So， why do these scams happen？ Many scammers play on the “relationship” card as they know that senior citizens often live lonely lives. Also， a lot of older adults have memory problems， dementia4 and Alzheimer’s， or impaired cognitive function. This makes it easy for con artists to trick them into giving them money or personal details.

那么，这些诈骗为什么会发生呢？许多骗子大打“感情”牌，因为他们知道老年人往往生活比较孤独。此外，许多老年人有记忆问题，患痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病，或存在认知功能受损的情况。这使得骗子很容易从他们手中骗取钱财或个人信息。

Another reason why scams targeting senior citizens are so frequent is that they may have large sums of money at hand thanks to their retirement savings and pension checks.

由于老年人有退休储蓄和养老金，所以他们的手头上可能有大笔钱财，这也是针对老年人的诈骗如此频繁的一个原因。

Finally， elder fraud makes the elderly feel embarrassed about being scammed， so they don’t report the crime to the authorities. Therefore， scammers are aware that they are likely to get away with it.

最后，涉老年人诈骗让老年人觉得被骗很难堪，所以不会报案。因此，骗子们知道他们很可能逍遥法外。

Health insurance senior scams

健康保险涉老年人诈骗

Health insurance or Medicare5 scam is one of the most common senior scams. Fraudsters6 pretend to be a Medicare representative asking older people to give them their personal information， which they use for illegal actions. In another scenario of this elder fraud， con people provide seniors with phony services and use their personal information to bill Medicare and take the money.

健康保险（或称老年医疗保险）诈骗是最常见一种的涉老年人诈骗。骗子冒充医疗保险代表，要求老年人提供他们的个人信息，将这些信息用于非法活动。此类涉老年人诈骗的另一种形式是，骗子向老年人提供虚假服务，并使用他们的个人信息向联邦医疗保险报账，然后取走报销款。

Funeral scams

丧事诈骗

There are two types of funeral senior fraud. In one scenario， perpetrators7 read obituaries8 and use the information they get to contact the grieving widow or widower. When they get in touch with them， they claim that the deceased owed them a considerable amount of money， trying to extort that sum from the deceased’s family.

丧事涉老年人诈骗有两种。一种是作案人看了讣告后，利用所获信息与正经历丧偶之痛的老年人取得联系。当与他们取得联系时，骗子声称死者欠他们一大笔钱，想办法向死者家属索要这笔钱。

This type of senior scams and frauds may also involve dishonest funeral homes， whose goal is to deceive family members by adding unnecessary charges to the bill. For example， they try to sell an expensive casket for a deceased who is going to be cremated.

这种类型的涉老年人诈骗也涉及不诚信经营的殡仪馆，其目的是在账单上增加不必要的费用来欺骗家属。例如，他们想方设法向即将火化者的家属兜售昂贵的棺材。

Telemarketing scams

电话营销诈骗

Fake telemarketing is unfortunately pretty successful with older people. Since many seniors like purchasing over the phone， they are at significant risk of being conned this way. This type of fraud allows perpetrators to easily get away with the scam because there is no face-to-face interaction or paper trail. What’s even worse is that some senior people are deceived more than once in the same or similar manner.

不幸的是，针对老年人的电话营销诈骗很容易得逞。许多老年人喜欢通过电话购物，因而被这种方式欺骗的风险很大。由于没有面对面的互动，也没有留下文字痕迹，作案人很容易从这种类型的诈骗当中全身而退。更糟糕的是，一些老年人被同样或类似的方式欺骗了不止一次。

Investment schemes

投资陷阱

Being preoccupied with their financial situation and constantly worrying about whether their nest egg9 will last through retirement， older people are incredibly vulnerable to investment schemes and in need of guidance.

老年人最关注自己的财务状况，老是担心自己的积蓄在退休后不够用，因而极容易掉入投资陷阱，需要有人指导。

Scammers have come up with numerous fake investment options that seem tempting to senior citizens. They range from participating in pyramid schemes10 to investing in fictional businesses. Perpetrators may pose as financial advisors to get access to seniors’ retirement funds. All these schemes are very dangerous as they can quickly deplete older people of their savings.

骗子们想出了许多看起来对老年人很有吸引力的虚假投资选择，从加入传销组织到投资虚构的公司，五花八门。作案人可能会伪装成财务顾问来诈取老年人的退休金。所有这些陷阱都非常危险，因为它们能把老年人的积蓄一扫而空。

“Romantic” scammers

婚恋骗子

When it comes to senior citizens and fraud， romantic scams are also very common. Many seniors feel isolated as they might not be in contact with their family members. Moreover， if they have recently lost their spouse or partner， they usually need companionship.