Follow
Share

I am having difficulty getting through to my father about scammers calling him and giving out personal information.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
Amy, I see from your profile that your father has Alzheimer's/Dementia so trying to talk to him about scams he might understand at the moment but forget what you said a couple hours later.

Since my Dad moved from his house and into senior living he doesn't get many scam calls. The last one he had was where a person said that his car was used in a bank robbery, and when Dad said he doesn't own a car, the caller hung up. It got Dad worried so he called me asking who bought his car [his car was donated to charity]. It wasn't easy to convince Dad that his old car wasn't used in a robbery.

Too bad the independent living and assisted living facilities don't have something to block those robo calls.

Eyerishlass, I remember those party line telephones :) There was a certain set of telephone rings when the local grocery store would be having items on sale so the housewives would answer the phone [this was in an one horse town].
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

My dad was the most intelligent person I ever knew. A college professor and a member of MENSA. Yet he fell victim to the scams by phone and by mail and in person. I couldn't figure out why. Like you, I told him over and over that he couldn't trust these people and to never, ever give out his personal information by phone no matter who is calling. Yet I still had to monitor the phone and mail to try and run interference. I would pick up an extension of the phone and hear my dad giving out personal information. I'd run to him and grab the phone from him and try to discern who he was speaking to. The mail was not so easy as I didn't want to open his mail yet I saw all the junk he was getting. I couldn't figure out how to get him to understand.

Now I know that it was his age. Not that he was vulnerable because he was elderly, which was also true, but in his day no one worried about phone and mail scams and crooks calling the house.

When he was growing up his family had a phone and a phone line that was connected to the neighbors. Each family had their own distinct ring that let them know the incoming call was for them. If it wasn't their ring, the phone call was for one of the neighbors. And if someone picked up the phone while a neighbor was on it that person would immediately and quietly put the phone back on its hook. Listening in on a "party line" was a huge no-no and considered bad manners. And everyone abided by this rule. People trusted that their neighbors wouldn't listen in to their phone calls. This is how my dad and many of our elderly parents were raised. Back in their day they could trust strangers. They trusted people until people proved they couldn't be trusted. Now we distrust people until they prove they can be trusted.

It's a shame.

I think as our elderly parents aged the world changed but they didn't necessarily change with it.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

The scammers and crap charities prey on old folks, taking advantage of how trusting and nice many old folks are. I've preached at my mom till I'm blue in the face, her mind is still pretty good but she just won't hang up on these jerks. Then there's the avalanche of junk charity mail. She feels like she has to send them all a few bucks because they send all these nice cards and trinkets to her.

We need to get as much control over the mail, phones and finances that is possible as elders decline mentally. There are call blocking devices and some phone companies offer call blocking. There are I phone apps that allow you to screen calls. I pay the bills for my folks and keep a close eye on credit card statements and bank statements. I've been able to cancel some charges in the past like for computer virus protection (Dad hasn't been on line for years) and stupid magazine subscriptions.

This is serious business. You can search this forum for lots of horror stories about elders losing their life savings to charities and scams.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter