We've all seen the "distressed loved one" scams where someone calls an elderly person and tells them they are their grandchild in order to extort money from them. Now there seems to be a new scam targeting the elderly that I want to put out there. A few bad apple companies are calling elderly consumers and telling them they are an "Inspector" or "Investigator" who found their personal information on various mailing lists. The person goes on to tell the elderly person that they are at a high risk of identity theft and that their company can help.
Using high-pressure sales tactics, the scammer convinces the elderly person to buy into a program that will eliminate their personal information from being distributed. The company these people are working for will then charge the elderly person's credit card every month without authorization and when pressured for a refund, will not give it. The "membership" to these types of companies can run from $250-$450 per month so it doesn't take long for these charges to really add up, especially given that so many elderly are on fixed incomes.
If you hear from a company like this, please call your BBB IMMEDIATELY so we can take the necessary steps to tracking down these scam artists. While it is noble and very admirable that the elderly are more trusting of other people than most, scammers unfortunately find them easy targets and BBB is here to help.