Bulletin Board
Fraud, Scams, Abuse against Senior Citizens

• Warning to Seniors of Con Artist ---J4barr@aol.com -- Our family has recently been through a real tragedy that I would like to keep other people from experiencing and warn them of the cunning con artists' "latest" scam!

  In order to keep our 82-yr old uncle who had had several small strokes out of a nursing home, an unknown (by our family) 47-yr. old woman, who had been recommended by a hospice volunteer was hired to be a live-in caregiver to our uncle. Remember, our uncle was NOT terminal. He just could not function on his own because of the strokes.

  This situation immediately turned into a nightmare. The caregiver started keeping the family away and made excuses for them not to visit Uncle Carl, even locking the gate to the 500 acre farm that had been in the family for almost 100 years that had NEVER before been locked to anyone! She also began taking him to lawyers to draw up five different wills within 10 months. This man had never been married, had no children and lived on land that he and his siblings were born on and that his parents had homesteaded when they came to America from Sweden and Norway almost 100 years ago. He died three weeks after the last will was drawn up, leaving everything to hospice, with a life tenancy to the caregiver.

  This all took place in a small community/county where everyone knows everyone and their business. When we took this to court the family lost! Even though it was pointed out in court that the caregiver had not had a regular job in over 20 years, living on SSI, medicaid and hospice care. Her journal, which was allowed as evidence in court made mention of illegal drug use by her and her friends (even receiving and sending it in the mail), needing to get Carl to the attorney to change his will and wanting God to please give her a three bedroom house. She had no money to fight us in court, so Hospice did it for her. Their three lawyers against our one. That was a mistake on our part. We hired a lawyer friend of the family who was from outside of this small community (has cost us in excess of $70,000) That, coupled with the fact that the judge is married to an administrator of the local hospital (having contact with hospice, of course) and well-known ( probably buddies) with the hospice attorneys, chose to give this family heritage to a person of very questionable morals.

  Our family has had an outpouring of sympathy from the community. However, nobody is willing to risk their status in the community by standing up to the justice system, hospice nor the medical community. The local newspapers will not print our letters, for fear of "slander"!

  Is this justice???? My sons will never get to spend the summers on the property where my husband spent so much of his youth. They will never have the wonderful memories of swimming in the river, climbing the hill to the original "homestead site", nor looking at the pictures and legal documents that their great grandparents brought with them from the "old county". We were not even allowed to get the personal possessions and furniture out of the house that had belonged to their great grandparents!

  How could a judge rule against us with the following as some of the most evident facts:

  1. Uncle Carl had had several strokes and his doctor indicated that he could no longer live on his own. (However, once this became a legal matter, the doctor wanted no part of it!)
  2. The caregiver was recommended by a hospice volunteer.
  3. The will was notarized by a member of the Hospice Board of Directors
  4. The caregiver immediately started doing things (keeping family away, withdrawing large amount of money from Carl's account, having him change his will, etc) that normally, are signs of financial abuse.
  5. At trial, a local deputy stated that it was felt that a crime was being committed by the caregiver .
  6. The admittance of illegal use of drugs including, but not limited to marijuana (which had not yet been legalized for cancer use) and certainly not legal for shipment by mail!
  7. The person at the local Senior Disabled Services Ctr. gave us no help. Later, we discovered whe is on the Board of Directors.

  These are just some of the facts that make me question our legal system. It is difficult for me to not feel that the "people with the control" were conspiring to help hospice, and not giving a thought to the three surviving elderly siblings, one of whom will probably end up on welfare because of this judge's decision! I am convinced that the message is going to get out to the con artists of this community, and the whole country, to find an elderly person with property and convince them to give it to their caregiver AND an organization such as HOSPICE. They will walk away with everything, because no "local" judge or attorney can say no to Hospice!

• Woman Charged With Fraud, Elder Abuse -- Article in S.F. Chronicle 2/7/97. Gabriel was a lonely 83-year old widower when he ran into a woman who said she wanted to be his friend. A year later, Gabriel, who has mild dementia and failing eye-sight, was nearly broke -- and his woman "friend" was nearly half a million dollars richer and a new homeowner. The civil suit claims Gabries was "systematically looted" -- a confused man still reeling from the loss of his wife. They met after he collapsed at a mall and the "friend" offer to help. Starved for companionship -- an elderly persons can easily succumb to friendly overtures. The friend got him to make several huge withdrawals from his bank accounts and used his house as collateral for a $150,000 home lone. He is responsible for making the $1,200 monthly payments on the loan -- even though he received only an $820 SS check. His friend also purchased a new Chevy pickup, clothes, and a computer. The alleged grand total: $400,000.

• The Latest Scam? -- There is a big scam going on where a person calls and says that they are doing a computer survey from a company. The company name that they give is usually a big well-known software company, and they usually say that they are doing the survey because they want to give out free software. They want to know what would be a good time for someone to come from their company and install the software on your PC. They also ask questions about income, etc.

  During their questioning, they (unknowingly to you) find out what time you're usually home, what kind of computer equipment you have and all sorts of other valuable information. At a company where a friend of mine works, a co-worker of his received one of these calls, and he was robbed the very next day (of course, when he was not home). I received a similar call yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, I knew about this ahead of time, and we didn't provide them with any information.

  I want to make you all aware of the situation and the potential danger Involved in giving out any information like this over the phone. The people sound very genuine, and very few people are going to question receiving free software. I would advise you, however, to tell the people that if they have your phone number, they should have your address (we think they're getting it off the internet somehow), and they can mail you any free software they might be offering. If you have a home computer set-up, you should be familiar with installing your own software. You may even want to tell them you don't have a home computer. Whatever you're comfortable with. Please don't give out any information that you may regret later. Pass this information along to friends and family members, as well. The fewer people they are able to scam, the better.

  I got a paper questionnaire yesterday in the snail-mail. It asked what kind of computer I had, among other things. I don't trust it. Mary-Anne

• BE ALERT!!!! -- I've been victimized by MILFORD PHARMACAL from Las Vegas, NV. I sent my money and I got nothing, no product or refund just nothing, please don't answer theirs mail, they prey on the "SENIORS" BE ALERT!!!! remember the name please don't send your money or credit card number, they are immune under the law in the state of Nevada, please don't believe what the awesome brochure they present please BE ALERT! THEY ARE THIEVES! Regards! From: Westnerd@ix.netcom.com

• Fraud artist that preys on elderly in Buffalo New York -- We have recently had to take over the financial affairs of my mother-in law. Her deteriating mental condition has made this nessecary but we have now found that a home care assistant hired by the VNA has conned her out of almost her life savings even going so far as buying himself a Lincoln Continental , $3500.00 of new furnature, $1200 enteratainment unit, and thousands of dollars of cash advanced on her bank cards. We now found out that this bastard has a violent criminal record dating dack to 1972. Do not depend on the VNA to check out their people. You must do this yourself!!!!!!! Please protect yourselves. The worst part is that because he put all the bills of sale in his name, we can not seize the items he bought with Mary's money. We now have an 80 year old AD woman on our hands who is now broke and must now live on only her Old age security!!!! Thanks a lot VNA!!!! People like Gary Jackson are like AIDS to the elderly. From: DYEING@aol.com

• Undue Influence by Peripheral Family Member -- I am not the senior but the daughter. I want to caution seniors to be so cautious about trusting someone just because they shower you with attention. My mother has always been a contrary, difficult person but one learns to accept someone for who they are.

  Anyway, my cousin began a campaign about two years ago showing my mother with gifts and attention (cousin has both the time and money) and to make a very long story short, effectively alienated and cut off everyone else from either being able to or wanting to see my mother. It was a very manipulative and devious operation. I just learned yesterday that my mother has given power of attorney and her will executorship to my cousin and her husband.

  Shortly after this occurred my mother wrote to my brother in another state and said she had had "a falling out" with the cousin, couldn't understand why her niece no longer visited or called.... Soon after my mother had a massive stroke and is no longer able to speak. I feel my cousin has betrayed everyone, most of all, my mother. Of course, I realize my mother's mindset had to off to allow someone to influence her to the extent that the cousin has, but nevertheless, she refused to trust the one person she should have and trusted the one she shouldn't, all because of flattery and attention. What can I do? If you can help, e-mail Elizabeth -- Elizaf@sinnfree.org

• The U.S. Customs Service, Office of Internal Affairs, is investigating a $15 million international fraud scheme which often targets senior citizens in this country and has cost many their life savings. Over $80,000 was recovered in a special two week Customs operation including three checks for over $2,999 from an elderly man in Lexington, Kentucky, and $5,000 from Louisville, Kentucky residents.

  In a scam that reaches from Montreal, Canada, to all 50 states, the fake telemarketers obtain seniors’ phone numbers from computerized mailing lists and call them identifying themselves as U.S. Customs officials located on the US. - Canada border. The victims are told that they have won $100,000 or more in a sweepstakes drawing and to send the amount of duty owed, which is often 7 percent, in order to receive their winnings. They are instructed to send cashier’s checks via an overnight delivery service to various fictitious Customs brokers in Montreal. The scam artists then get the parcel tracking number from the victim and redirect the money to a different mail drop and the senior’s money disappears.

  About 15 separate telemarketing fraud groups are working this same scam out of Montreal. The U.S. Customs Service has been working this investigation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for about seven months. For two weeks in October 1996, the U.S. Customs Service conducted intensive inspections of parcels passing through express mail facilities, in an effort to recover the cashier’s checks. According to Senior Special Agent Jeffrey Jordan, Office of Internal Affairs, U.S. Customs Service, Washington D.C., $40,417 was recovered at the UPS facility in Louisville, Kentucky; $12,259 was recovered at DHL in Hebron, Kentucky; $15,020 was recovered at Federal Express in Memphis, Tennessee; and $14,279 was recovered at Airborne Express in Wilmington, Ohio. The express mail facilities were extremely cooperative with the Customs Service.

  The Customs Service now wants to publicize this scam in an effort to stop others from being victimized. "If contacted by one of these scam artists, don’t send any money" advises Special Agent Jordan. "They are not the U.S. Customs Service nor do they represent the Customs Service; this is not how the U.S. Customs Service conducts business." Report these contacts to the United States Customs Service Office of Internal Affairs. To locate the nearest U.S. Customs Service Office of Internal Affairs, please call 1-800-BE ALERT (1-800-232-5378).

• Sep 12 -- Yes on Prop 211 -- Hello: -- I am writing to you on behalf of The Citizens for Retirement Protection and Security. On November 5th, Proposition 211 will be up for vote. We would like to call attention to our website which contains valuable information on why Proposition 211 is so desperately needed to protect the seniors, consumers and investors of California. The site contains the full text of Proposition 211, case histories of investors who have been swindled dry, recent press about Prop 211, research and facts on securities fraud, and a list of the community groups who endorse Prop 211. For more information click on Stop Fraud Organization. Our URL is: http://stopfraud.org. Thank you in advance for your time. Kelli Geehan, Site Administrator, Citizens for Retirement Protection and Security, 355 South Grand Avenue, Suite 4178, Los Angeles, CA 90071; Phone (213) 617-7337; Fax (213) 617-9470; Email: prop211@aol.com. Kelli Geeham

• National Fraud Information Center -- is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D,C. which helps consumers to report fraud and offers helpful advice on how to avoid becoming a victim. Subjects include: (1) How to help cronic elderly fraud victims, (2) Report telemarketing Fraud, (3) and mone.

• Crooks Buying Your SS Data -- report of Neal Travis, The New York Post. A major scandal is about to strike the Social Security Administration. I understand a gang of credit-card scammers has had access to Social Security's closely-guarded files for close to two years. The criminals, popularly known as "The Nigerian Gang," have been bribing Social Security clerks in New York and across the nation to furnish them with the details that those workers are sworn to protect. The gang has been stealing new credit cards from Newark Airport, to where they are bulk-mailed before being sorted and set to individual addresses. To validate the cards, the gang has to provide the Social Security number of the holder, plus such facts as the maiden name of the recipient's mother. The corrupt clerks have been providing this data out of the administration's computerized files at $160 a pop. "The clerks have been making a fortune," says a bank investigator. "The gang itself has made millions, because weeks go by before anyone even knows they've been scammed." This investigator says four of the gang were picked up by federal authorities during Mardi Gras in New Orleans while using bogus cards at ATMs. "They were carrying lists of names, SS numbers and identifying codes," says this source. "The authorities were able to work out who in Social Security had accessed this information. "A woman in New York has broken down and confessed, and at least another eight clerks around the nation are targeted for arrest. Both the gang and the clerks will face federal mail-fraud charges." Posted by Adam Starchild

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