Please beware and keep an eye on your elderly parents or grandparents social media usage as acts with unthinkable consequences come in many forms such as hoaxes to deceive people, scams to defraud people out of money they probably do not have in the first place, to phishing scams to make them feel the great deals will slip away if they do not respond or purchase items right away.

Recently my father was scammed out of hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for many of the exact crimes I mentioned.   I may never know the magnitude it caused. Unfortunately, this form of elderly abuse happens far too much with our elderly relying on social media as their man form of staying contacted to society and less isolation.  As we can not be with them 24/7, their perception becomes reality as they do not have much communication with others often enough to educate them on decision making and just having discussions about life to make them feel connected and informed.   They simple just do not know better and think they are doing good by purchasing items they see advertised on TV or online and as they purchase more and more, more and more scams come across the screens of TV’s, phones and tablets.  These types of crime can even come through a simple phone call.  When the phone rings my father gets so irritated, but runs to the phone to see who it is and what they want.  Again, that simple conversation, that they thrive for, can turn into a financial nightmare.

Scams range from medical products or miracle drugs promising the world they will feel better and have a healthier life if they purchase and continue to purchase these products.  Credit cards are given over the phone and the next thing you find out their bank accounts are being depleted faster than you can find out about the scams that took place.  

My goal is to prepare my father often by having the hard weekly and sometimes daily conversation about these types of scams and that not everyone, unfortunately, is not looking out for their best interest.  If you have elderly parents or people in your lives, please make sure you are advocating for them as they may not have the capacity to do so without making them feel like they are getting old and problems for you. Show compassion as it will go a long with in someone special lives and remember we will all be there someday.