Phone Scams Reach Record Numbers as More Target the Elderly

Authorities are fighting a scourge of phone crime enabled by cheap technology that blasts out nefarious calls and hides wrongdoers’ whereabouts. The scammers are heavily targeting the elderly, sparking a push in Congress to fight back. Callers often pose as cash-strapped grandchildren, tax collectors or providers of technical support. Complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about unwanted calls — including robocalls, or telemarketing sales calls with recorded messages, and spoofed caller identification, such as falsely showing that a bank or government agency is calling — hit a record 1.7 million in the first four months of 2016, up 41 percent from the year-earlier period. Monthly complaints about automated robocalls have more than tripled since 2009.

Source/more: Wall St. Journal via MarketWatch

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.