According to the “2018 DOJ Report on Senior Abuse and Financial Exploitation,” each year an estimated $3 billion is stolen from America’s seniors through a variety of mass mailing, romance, and vendor or contractor scams. They may also fall prey to imposters who claim to represent the IRS, Medicare or Medicaid, or Social Security. Unfortunately, New Canaan is not immune to these scams.
New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski
In 2021 our Department investigated 47 fraud complaints and some of these incidents targeted seniors. This month, a senior resident contacted our Department to report being the victim of a PayPal scam. The scammer emailed the resident and stated that a PayPal payment was received. The resident opened the fraudulent email, which may have allowed the scammer to access the resident’s computer. To dispute the alleged payment, the resident called a telephone number provided by the scammer, and the scammer told the resident to mail thousands of dollars in cash to the scammer, and then the resident would be reimbursed. Subsequently, the resident mailed the cash, was not reimbursed, and was defrauded of thousands of dollars. Sadly, it is not likely this money will be recovered.
What is Senior Fraud?
Senior fraud, which is also known as senior financial exploitation or senior financial abuse, is the abuse of financial control or misappropriation of financial resources, resulting in harm to an older victim. Most senior fraud in New Canaan…
