Fraudulent Schemes
Fraudulent Schemes Committed Against
the Elderly
Some of the most prevalent crimes committed against the
elderly are not personal violent crimes but rather financial
crimes. Fraudulent schemes that are particularly successful
among the elderly include illegal door-to-door sales, home
improvement scams, mail order fraud, and social involvement
activities. Each type of fraud is dependent upon a particular
vulnerability of the elderly. For instance, the isolation
and loneliness of some older people is a foundation for fraudulent
door-to-door salesmen.
The financial impact of crime on the elderly who often
live on a limited budget causes incalculable harm. Elderly
victims who have been swindled out of their life savings
or who have fallen prey to the con artist can feel not only
humiliated, but financially and emotionally devastated.
Understanding some of the most common forms of fraud will
help the elderly from falling prey to these schemes.
Door-to-Door Sales
Illegal or unethical door-to-door sales is a common crime
in which senior citizens are targeted as victims.
Here are some useful tips on how to deal with
door-to-door salespeople:
- Take your time. Do not buy on the spot. It is best to
do some comparison shopping first. A reputable salesperson
will be willing to come back after you have done comparison
shopping elsewhere.
- Find out if the salesman has a solicitor’s license.
Ask to see the salesperson’s solicitor’s license.
The license will usually be issued by the city where you
live.
- Be careful about letting the salesperson into your home.
A person who claims he or she is a salesperson may really
be someone intending to burglarize your home or commit
another crime. If the salesperson refuses to leave, threaten
to call the police. If he or she still refuses to leave,
place the call.
- Make checks payable to the company. If you are paying
by check, make it payable to the company, not to the
salesperson.
The law requires that the door-to-door salesperson must,
at the time he or she first contacts you, make you aware
that the purpose of the contact is to make a sale. The salesperson
must tell you his or her name, the company name, and describe
the kind of goods or services being sold. He or she must
show you identification that contains the address of the
business. The salesperson will want you to sign a sales contract
if you make the purchase.
You have the legal right to cancel your contract until
midnight of the third “business” day after the
day you sign a door-to-door sales contract worth $25 or more,
including any interest or service charges. Sundays and holidays
are not counted when calculating the three-day period. Contact
an attorney or the Ventura County District Attorney’s
Consumer Mediation Section immediately for information on
how to send a notice of cancellation if you wish to cancel
a door-to-door contract.
Here are some helpful tips that you should
keep in mind before signing a sales contract:
- Do not sign anything until you know exactly what you
are signing and understand it.
- Get all promises in writing and keep a copy. We suggest
as well that you have the salesperson sign your written
record of these promises stating, “seller and buyer
have on this date agreed to the provisions as stated
above.”
- Look carefully at the contract to be sure it has no
blank spaces. If it does have blank spaces, cross or line
them out so that the contract cannot be filled in with
terms you have not agreed to after you leave.
- Make sure your copy of the contract is the same as the
seller’s.
Free Prize Offers
Consumers are frequently told, in person, by mail, or over
the telephone, that they have won a gift or prize and are
then asked to pay money for some other goods or services
in order to receive the “free” prize. California
Business and Professions Code section 17537 provides
that it is against the law for the advertiser to require
you to purchase goods or services in order to receive the
prize. Businesses may charge a normal shipping fee which
does not exceed the average cost of shipping goods of a like
size, kind and weight for shipment to your address.
In addition, California Business and Professions Code section 17537.1
provides that it is unlawful to offer an incentive as an
inducement to visit a location, attend a sales presentation
or contact a sales agent in person, by telephone or mail,
unless the incentive offer clearly and conspicuously discloses
in writing specified detailed information regarding the business
and the intended sales presentation.
ANYTIME THAT YOU ARE ASKED TO PAY MONEY IN ORDER
TO GET A “FREE” GIFT, YOU SHOULD REFUSE TO
PAY THE MONEY . It is likely that such an offer
is fraudulent and even if you paid the money to receive
the gift, you would never receive the gift or it would
be a cheap imitation item.
Foreclosure Frauds
When a homeowner is in foreclosure, the notice of default
is often published in small, local newspapers as well as
in foreclosure publications sold at newsstands. The foreclosure
con artists who scan these notices know people in this situation
are embarrassed and desperate and make easy fraud victims
when not informed. These con artists will besiege you with
offers to save your home, clear your credit and arrange refinancing.
Unaware homeowners have often transferred title to these
criminals because they did not read the contracts and signed
them before all the blank spaces had been filled in, or they
did not understand what they read and signed anyway.
California Civil Code sections 1695 et. seq. govern solicitations
of homeowners by persons offering home equity purchases.
This law requires an agreement for a home equity purchase
to be in writing and to include a notice in a specified format
advising the seller of their statutory right to cancel the
transaction within five business days. Homeowners who are
faced with a foreclosure should seriously consider consulting
an attorney prior to entering into any agreement to transfer
an interest in their property.
Phony Mortgage Bills
If you receive a notice stating that a new company has
purchased your mortgage or taken over the loan servicing,
always check the company you were doing business with to
be certain this is true before making payment. This could
be a scam.
Con artists sometimes pay a disgruntled employee of a mortgage
lender or use computer hackers to get lists of borrowers.
Then they send a letter stating that the payment now should
be sent to a new company and usually give a post office box.
When a new lender assumes your mortgage servicing, federal
law requires that you be sent a “transition” letter
from the previous company and a welcoming letter from the
new service. Always confirm a notice to transfer payments
with your existing lender at that lender’s address
or by telephone.
Fake Delivery Schemes
An authentic looking, perhaps uniformed, delivery person
will come to your door saying he or she has a C.O.D. package
for a neighbor who is not at home and asks you to pay the
charge. The best advice is to refuse, unless you were asked
by your neighbor to receive the package.
Home Repair Scams
These rip-offs are usually pulled by con artists who are
part of a group. They will come into an area and offer to
oil a shingled roof or repair a driveway for a low fee if
they can do the work immediately. When the victim agrees,
he or she discovers the fee is much higher after the work
is done or that the work was done using inferior materials.
Older people usually cannot go up on the roof to check, so
they are especially vulnerable to this scheme. The con men
will often do work at a low fee for one resident to create
a referral in the neighborhood to draw in victims.
Many of these people will do more than overcharge or perform
shoddy work. While one is working outside, another may go
into the house for a drink of water and then steal valuables.
Often the victim does not know anything is missing until
the criminals are gone. Frequently, these groups work the
entire United States. They are often found in Southern California
from November through February because they cannot pull their
scam during harsh winters in the East and Midwest.
Advance Fee Schemes
Often con artists place classified ads in newspapers to
target individuals who need loans. These con artists frequently
claim to have foreign investors ready to lend money to unsuspecting
victims.
f he or she asks for an advance fee to cover the expense of
making the arrangements, you should see this as a red flag.
The advance fee may be lost and you will never see the loan.
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