Someone tried to scam my 92 yearold grandmother today. They called her pretending to be her grandson. Their fatal flaw was that they called her grandma which is not what her 3 grandchildren have ever called her. She asked them which grandson they were. After an ackward pause they started to tell her that they had been in an accident in Canada and that they needed her to send money. She told the individual that they knew better than to call asking for money, that if they needed money to call Auntie Brenda and ask her, then she hung up the phone. My grandmother at 92 is one sharp cookie, thankfully she didn't fall for the story. She was a little rattled and immediately she called my aunt, who called my dad, who tried to call my brothers, and then called me. So then I got ahold of both my brother, cause I am good at that. Indeed neither of them were in Canada.
More and more you hear about people who prey on the elderly in our country. Many times they are extremely succesful at it too. My other 2 grandparents aren't as capable cognitively anymore. My dad's mom also has a daughter, my aunt, who is constantly coaching her on how to deal with these types of situations. Recently I saw an article here in the Murray paper about a public service class for the ederly to help them avoid scams. It's sad on two levels. First that people who take advantage of the vulnerable like that, and secondly, that many elderly don't have families who take great effort to look out for them. My grandmother has an incredible resource in my aunt, though my grandmother still makes all her own decisions about finances, my aunt always is with her when she makes those decisions. It was easy to tell the scam artist to call Auntie Brenda, because she knows that Auntie Brenda is much more aware of people trying to take advantage, not because she is quicker mentally, but because she was an incredible savy bussiness women her entire career and knows what to look for.
