Elder scam, anyone else heard or experienced this?

[Anonymous]

My elderly mother who lives alone had someone knock on her door and tell her that her car needed body work. Long story short is that she seems to have paid him $1600 for body work (there have been no known accidents) and he "repaired" it in her driveway. I seem to remember a post about someone who would approach people in parking lots etc and offer to fix body damage. The money is gone, but am considering calling Montgomery County police. Anyone else heard of this scam before?

[Anonymous]

What did they look like? There are bands of Irish people who offer to fix stairs and driveways and run off with the money.

We had one of them knock on our door. They even have a flyer with fake info on it!

Maybe get a front door camera.

The police probably won’t do anything but you can ask.

[Anonymous]

I think the Irish people are called Travelers and they are based out of South Carolina but travel around doing scams

[Anonymous]

That’s a new one to me. I’ve told my 88 year old mother many times to always call me when something needs to be repaired or when say a roof guy comes by to give a free estimate. There are so many scams out there that take advantage of the elderly, especially those who live alone and have no one to talk to.

[Anonymous]

I haven't heard of this one before but it really feels like the elder scams have gotten so much more frequent and elaborate lately. My dad, my MIL, and my friend's dad have all been hit with elaborate scams for money in the last year and it's crazy how good the scammers are.

I think we need more public education on this stuff because I suspect a lot of these scammers just recognize that aging boomers are sitting on enormous amounts of cash and as our parents get older, they become more susceptible to these things.

In any case, yes I would absolutely report to the cops (they won't do anything, but get it on record) and I'd also post it on Nextdoor, Facebook, neighborhood list serves, etc. The more we can get the word out that this stuff is happening the better. The more aware people can be, the better. It's really the only defense.

[Anonymous]

That's a very common one. There is an aggressive guy in a white van approaching people in grocery store parking lots and other places around Bethesda and apparently getting quite nasty when people refuse.

$1600 is egregious for a dent repair even if they actually did something.

[Anonymous]

Something similar happened to my mother but I think the men were Romanian (not sure though). Someone from her friend group had work done - which may have been legit body work- and then referred the men to her friend group. Most of them got work done. The men said my mom's car was not aligned/had gaps or something of the sort and "fixed it" for about 1000 dollars.

[Anonymous]

Elder scams infuriate me. Even the threat of them is damaging. My mother is so paranoid about being scammed that she doesn't consider getting legitimate work done.

People who prey on the elderly are straight up garbage.

[Anonymous]

I know it can be hard to convince people to change their lifetime habits, but no elderly person (or anybody else for that matter) should be opening their door to a stranger. People come to your door, accost you on the street, ring your phone unsolicited for their benefit. Not yours.

[Anonymous]

Very common. I wasn't elderly but was approached in parking lots, often. I had a dented bumper. It was a scam and it wouldn't have improved my bumper.

[Anonymous]

Did she actually pay cash? Or write a check?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s a new one to me. I’ve told my 88 year old mother many times to always call me when something needs to be repaired or when say a roof guy comes by to give a free estimate. There are so many scams out there that take advantage of the elderly, especially those who live alone and have no one to talk to.

+1

Scammers prey on people of that era because people of that era were conditioned to always open the door for knocks/bell ringing, and people of that era also ALWAYS (without fail) answer the phone. They don't understand that the world is different now, and they firmly have it in their head that people who call or visit must have good intentions - it does not occur to them that, current day, people who knock, ring or call almost ALWAYS want something from people who answer.
Not sure if part of it is loneliness.

In MILs house, it was and still is a big production to answer the phone or door, for those reasons. For example, she will turn on all the lights to the house to answer the door, then leave the door wide open. She is also one to leave her front door unlocked habitually. She is proud to "tell people off" that she doesn't need something, or that she "never wants them to call back again" - instead of simply not answering, not realizing that they could not care less what she says. Obviously, she did not grow up in the city.

Telling her not to answer is like talking to a brick wall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know it can be hard to convince people to change their lifetime habits, but no elderly person (or anybody else for that matter) should be opening their door to a stranger. People come to your door, accost you on the street, ring your phone unsolicited for their benefit. Not yours.

+1

Most people comprehend that, but try telling that to people set in their ways (understatement).

[Anonymous]

My DH fell for this years ago. They approached him in a target parking lot and offered to fix a dent while he shopped. He gave cash and came back to a car in worse shape that the dent he started with. He’s not elderly and should have known better but oh well. He felt horrible. I’m sure your mother does, too. It feels so violating.

[Anonymous]

Report to attorney general and state CFPB. Sometimes they issue helpful alerts if they get enough reports. Sorry that happened.