For thousands of years, Caveat Emptor has been the battle cry of all who entered the marketplace looking for goods and services and hoping for fair deals and good services.  Unfortunately, this age old phrase meaning “Let the Buyer Beware" needs a 21^st century update to Caveat Caregiver or “Let the Caregiver Beware”.  These days, so many scam artists and plots abound to trip up our elderly loved ones or even ourselves that it is hard to keep ahead of the latest trap. And, although the internet makes many things in our lives easier, our security is not one of them.  So many times our loved ones are too ashamed to tell us that they have become the victim of a scam and his or her silence only serves to makes the situation worse.  Remember that it is important to create an environment where your loved ones can feel comfortable about telling you what is happening with their finances without rebuke or scorn.

Some other Caveat Caregiver advice:

• Legitimate companies don't pressure people to act without time to look into the deal.

• Legitimate companies are glad to send information about what they're offering by phone.

• Legitimate companies don't ask for cash, but con artists do because they often have trouble getting merchant approval from the credit card companies, and they also want to be hard to trace.

• Legitimate companies don't ask for your Social Security number unless you are applying for credit and they need to check your credit report.

• Legitimate companies only ask for financial information to bill you or debit your account for purchases you've agreed to make. Never give up your credit card number, bank account number, or other financial information when you aren't buying anything or paying with those accounts.

• Legitimate companies will take "no" for an answer and will take you off their calling lists if you ask. Visit the National Do Not Call Registry to register your phone number. If you get repeat calls, file a complaint with the registry.  www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

• Legitimate lenders and credit card issuers do not demand payment in advance, and no one can get bad information removed from a credit file if it is accurate, no matter how much you pay them.

Identity theft is on the rise, if you feel that you have been a victim of identity theft follow the advice offered by the FTC:  www.consumer.gov/idtheft/con_steps.htm.

You may also want to follow another age old piece of advice “Trust, but Verify”.

Share your own Caveat Caregiver scam advice.

Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com