Showing posts with label elderly crime victims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elderly crime victims. Show all posts

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Crime Against Senior Citizens

One personality trait that seems to take over when we retire is that we become much more relaxed about a lot of things that used to worry us.  When we become relaxed about how we spend our time, how late we stay up, or our vacation destinations, that is understandable and one of the advantages of being retired. 

However, sometimes people become alarmingly relaxed about their personal and financial security.  If that happens to you, it could put you in danger, as well as your loved ones.  It also could mean that you put at risk everything you have spent your life building.  Unfortunately, there are far too many people who prey on the elderly, taking advantage of their kindness and their trusting nature.  Don't let your retirement be ruined by predators.

Local Crime Against the Elderly

Our gated retirement community, Laguna Woods Village,which is considered one of the safest in the state of California, just released our latest crime statistics.  This data shows that residential burglaries in our town have tripled since 2007 and property crimes are at all-time highs.  Shown below are a few of the statistics listed for our neighborhood.

Between 2007 and 2013:

Burglaries increased from 13 to 20
Residential burglaries increased from 4 to 15
Thefts increased from 70 to 121
Bicycle thefts increased from 2 to 13
Thefts from cars increased from 11 to 24

These are significant increases in crime, especially considering that we live in a secured guard-gated, over-55 community with private security patrolling the streets 24 hours a day.  In addition, a high percentage of our residents are retired and home most of the time.

National Crime Statistics

Unfortunately, what is happening within our community is reflected across the country.  Incidents of crime against the elderly have become a serious national problem, according to a number of sources.  The types of crimes not only include burglary and property crimes, but theft of assets, fraud, physical and financial abuse and assaults.  Here are some of the troubling statistics I discovered:

In 1998, the National Center on Elder Abuse released an estimate that about 1/3 of the cases of elder abuse cases involved financial exploitation of some kind. Indications are that this type of crime has increased since then.

In 2000, the US Senate Special Committee on Aging reported $40 billion in losses to the elderly due to telemarketing fraud.  This number, as well, has certainly increased significantly in the past 13 years.

According to Project America, about 2.5 of every 1000 elderly citizens will experience a physical criminal attack each year.  The specific incidence of various types of physical attacks against the elderly are:

Rape or sexual assault:  0.1 per 1000
Robbery: 0.6 per 1000
Aggravated assault: 0.3 per 1000
Simple assault:  1.5 per 1000
Personal theft: 0.8 per 1000 

According to the website saching.com, every 2.7 minutes an elderly person is victimized in the U.S.  That is a horrifying statistic.

Actions You Can Take to Avoid Being a Victim of a Crime

Our local county sheriff's department published a list of suggestions to help the elderly reduce their chances of becoming crime victims.  While some of these suggestions seem obvious, I know that many residents of our neighborhood have become lax about basic security because they feel so safe living here.  A few suggestions are good reminders:

1.  Keep your doors and windows locked when you go out.  Make sure your locks are in good working order and you may also want to consider installing an alarm system.

2.  Put lights on timers when you are going to be out after dark.  This has the additional advantage of preventing accidents from trips and falls that can occur when you enter a dark house.

3.  Cancel newspapers when you are going to be gone or ask a neighbor to pick up your newspapers and mail.  Because so many people are home during the day in a retirement community, it should be easy to find someone to help you.

4.  If you have a computer, have a computer expert check it from time to time to make sure your firewall and anti-virus protection are the latest versions.  If a stranger calls and says they are trying to fix a virus on your computer, hang up.  Do not follow their instructions.  This is a popular scam that can allow them to trick you into loading a virus onto your computer ... that only the caller can repair!

5.  Do not give out personal information to anyone who calls you.  Your bank and credit card companies already have your account numbers.  Do not give this information out to anyone over the phone, unless you initiated the call in order to make a purchase.

6.  Ask for an I.D. from anyone who comes to your door and claims to be from a utility company or other local business.  If you have any doubts, call the utility company to confirm that they sent the person.

7.  Take pictures of your valuables and keep the photos in a safe place.  In addition, mark your valuables with an identification number, if possible.  This may make it easier to reclaim items that are stolen.

8.  Do not fall for requests for money from people pretending to be relatives.  It is one of the latest scams and, as I have mentioned before in this blog, several people I know have lost thousands of dollars in this way. Confirm, confirm, confirm.  Even if they ask you not to call anyone else in the family, call anyway.

9.  Do not leave valuables in plain view in your car.  Most thefts from cars occur when passersby see a cell phone, purse or other item in your car and they break a window and steal it.  Just a few weeks ago, someone broke several car windows at the stables in our retirement community.  While people were peacefully enjoying a trail ride, their purses were being stolen from their cars!

10.  Do not put your purse or wallet in the trunk of your car while standing in the parking lot of your gym, golf course or other public building.  Thieves hang around these place watching for people to put their valuables in the car trunks.  Then, while you are happily getting some exercise, they pop open your trunk and steal your belongings.  It just takes them seconds.

While some of the items listed above may just seem like good common sense, far too many elderly become lax as they age, especially if they feel they live in a safe area.  This is the time when you should become more vigilant than ever!

If you are retired or planning to retire soon, and you need additional information about how to have the best retirement possible, you may want to check out the blog posts listed in the index articles below.

Gifts, Travel and Family Relationships

Great Places for Boomers to Retire Overseas

Great Places to Retire in the United States

Health and Medical Topics for Baby Boomers

Money and Financial Planning for Retirement


You are reading from the blog:  http://baby-boomer-retirement.blogspot.com

Sources:

"Property Crimes Spike in City," Laguna Woods Globe - Orange County Register, August 15, 2013.

http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1047

http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=127

http://voices.yahoo.com/rising-crime-rates-against-elderly-seniors-learning-406684.html

http://www.saching.com/Article/Crimes-Against-The-Elderly---Crime-And-Abuse-of-Senior-Citizens/190

Photo of police car is courtesy of www.morguefile.com


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Crimes Against the Elderly

Many Baby Boomers are moving into retirement communities while they still have living parents who also live in a retirement community or an assisted living facility.  Unfortunately, with so many people over the age of 55 living in these neighborhoods, they have begun to attract the attention of criminals who are looking for easy victims.  As a result, Baby Boomers not only have to worry about keeping themselves safe from these predators, but many of us also have to worry about our parents, who can often be more trusting and less suspicious than their Baby Boomer children.

Crime Statistics Involving Elderly

According to the Project America website, for every 1000 people age 65 and over, here are the annual crime statistics:

Simple assault: 1.5
Personal theft:    .8
Robbery:           .6
Aggravated assault:  .3
Rape or sexual assault: .1

Overall, about 2.5 out of every 1000 people age 65 and over will be the victim of a crime every year.  Obviously, the longer you live, the greater your chances of being victimized.

Financial Crimes Against the Elderly

According to the same Project America article, the Department of Justice is especially concerned about financial crimes against the elderly.  In 1998, about one-third of the elder abuse cases that were discovered included financial exploitation, and the statistics have remained similar since that time.  This can include relatives that steal money from senior citizens, financial advisers who are dishonest, and strangers who trick retirees into paying bills they do not owe or donate to charities that do not exist.

Telemarketing Fraud Against the Elderly 

In addition, the elderly have reported about $40 billion in losses as a result of telemarketing fraud, and this problem is growing yearly.

On my Lies and Liers blog, I wrote a post about a phone call I received.  The post is titled "Lies and Liars: Computer Virus Scams," and the incident so infuriated my husband that he reported it to the Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://complaint.ic3.gov/.  This government agency shares this information with other law enforcement agencies, both local and national.  I highly recommend that anyone who experiences a similar phone call report it to the Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center.  While you are unlikely to get reimbursed for any losses, this site is the first step in trying to end these types of crimes.

These phone calls take many forms.  In the case I wrote about, a stranger called and tried to trick me into letting him take control of my computer so he could show me that I had a "computer virus" on it.  When people have fallen for this scam in the past, the caller has loaded a virus onto their computer and then sold the victims anti-virus software.

Other Hoaxes Directed at Senior Citizens

One of the disadvantages of living in a retirement community is that we receive so many fraudulent calls.  The issue has become serious enough that we have begun screening most of the phone calls we receive at our home.  If we do not recognize a name or phone number for an incoming call, we let our answering machine pick up the call.  Then we decide if we want to return it.

Many seniors continue to be tricked into giving strangers their Social Security number and other identifying information because they are being told it is necessary in order to receive government assistance to pay a portion of their utility bills or other obligations.  This is another complete fraud, often targeting the elderly.

Crimes that Pull At Your Heart Strings

Some of the worst crimes are those that rely on your charitable nature or desire to help others.  One of the most horrifying one is "The Crying Teenager Hoax."  In this hoax, a crying teen calls, pretending to be your grandchild or other relative.  They ask you to wire them money in another state because they have been in a car accident or arrested.  Thousands of seniors have sent wire transfers to strangers, believing they were helping a young relative.  Sometimes it is days before they realize they have been cheated.

Other Types of Crimes Against the Elderly

It is a shame that we need to remain constantly vigilant.  However, as a resident of an over-55 community, I realize that I have received more fraudulent phone calls since I moved here than at any other place I have ever lived.  In addition, a member of our Homeowner's Association Board of Directors told me this morning that many of the elderly in our community have been robbed by their home healthcare workers and other people who are supposed to be "helping" them.  This is especially shocking, because we live in a community that is considered one of the safest in California!

No matter how old we live to be, or how safe we deem our community, we are never too old to be the victim of a crime.  We can never let our guard down ... for ourselves, our parents, our friends or our neighbors.

If you are interested in learning more about retirement planning, financial issues, where to retire, medical concerns and changing family relationships, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional helpful articles.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo courtesy of morguefile.com/