Geezers Are Rip-Off Targets

Every turn reveals danger. It’s almost like we’re sheep in some sort of diabolical board game.There's a wolf on every corner. They’re waiting to rip us off. The older we get, the more the con-wolves get our scent and work at getting what little we have.

I delivered hot lunches to shut-ins. I delivered lunch to Faith everyday and became friends with her. She always had Michael Buble’ playing on a really high tech stereo. When I brought lunch that day Faith was paying bills. I sat her lunch on the table. Faith looked over her reading glasses. “I don’t understand this bill.” I looked at it for her. It was for an internet company I’d never heard of. Faith didn’t have internet.
Faith and most people of the golden generation were taught to pay what they owe. They get a bill, they pay it. All the scammer has to do is send out a bunch of bogus bills and some will pay. It’s all profit, except for postage fees. They even do it to businesses and get a lot to pay.
As counter-intuitive as it may be, don’t pay a bill unless you owe it. You can’t be sued for something you don’t owe. Correct that, you probably won’t be sued for what you don’t owe, but when lawyers are involved who knows. It’s probably best to pretend you’re my ex-wife and just ignore the bills. Notifying the authorities is a good idea too.

To keep from being ripped off, brush up on your math. The chances are slim that a Nigerian prince will select you out of millions of Americans to receive millions of dollars. You also haven’t won a foreign lottery. Forget the magical thinking. You haven’t won. You never will. Welcome to reality.

A common scam is when an unknown person calls and says your Grandson is in jail in a far off land and he needs money to get out and get home. You have to send funds right away.

Here’s what you do. You do nothing. He probably isn’t in jail. If he is, he probably deserves it and it’ll build character. Even if he was in jail and you successfully got him out, he’d never come and visit or clean the gutters. The best you can hope for is him coming to your funeral and overeating at the associated dinner. If you have time and Matlock isn’t on you can call the kids’ father and let him check it out. The father can always make more money, you probably can’t. In short, remember: “Not your problem”.

If you use the internet the chances of getting ripped off are huge. There are a million ways a 12 year old with a Wi-Fi connection can clean you out. Keep your computer security updated and get one of those PayPal or similar accounts that are reportedly more secure than other accounts. Other than that, you can check your credit card statements frequently and contest any unusual activity.

Keeping your money in cash isn’t a good way to avoid rip-offs. My Grandmother avoided getting ripped off by keeping her money in cash under the carpet. It worked well until a family member took it and her car to another state.

To sum it up, there are a lot of chances to get robbed. Guard your money carefully, and don’t give it up without careful scrutiny. It may help to chant the advice of my uncle. He always said, “Money comes in. It doesn’t go out.” That’s except for the electric company. You’d better pay out to them. They will cut you off. We’ll talk more about that next time.

Until then, let’s be careful out there.