Senior Scams – How To Identify Them, How To Avoid Them, What To Do If Scammed

It could happen to anyone, but there’s one segment of our population most susceptible to scams. Senior Citizens are most vulnerable to scams. Why are they targeted? How are they targeted? And how can you best protect your loved ones from scammers? Click the link below to find the answers to these questions and more on this week’s State of Greater Western New York Report.

This week’s guest is Dan Lyon, a retired Monroe County Sherriff’s Deputy who now serves as the Fraud & Scams Program Manager for Lifespan in Rochester, New York. Lyon begins by describing how the scam industry is set up like a business, how it targets its market just like any other business, and why elder abuse is such a problem. He also explains why everyone is at risk. The answer might surprise you so much you might not believe it, but you should.

In the second half of the show, Lyon takes a couple of specific hypothetical examples and walks you through what to do about it, both from the point of view of preventing the scam and what to do after the fact. Spoiler alert: you may not like the answer to that second part.

Our guest happily answered questions from the live audience. In fact, these are probably some of the same questions you had. Would you like to be a member of our live audience so you can ask our guests questions? Click here to join the growing number of members who share your feelings on StateOf.GreaterWesternNewYork.com because then we can automatically send you the link to watch our shows live.