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Health & Fitness

Senior Scams

There are people who stay awake nights figuring out ways to scam seniors.

There are people who stay awake nights figuring out ways to scam seniors.

In the old days it was bad enough that crooked home repair scammers would knock on a door and offer a senior the chance to have their driveway re-sealed with the leftover material from “a job down the block.” The re-sealer would often turn out to be used motor oil and the price would be far above the cost of a legitimate job.

With the advent of computers and the accompanying complexity of the digital age, scams have become more complex as well. A scammer no longer has to knock on someone’s door to knock over their bank account.

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The latest scam danger has been created by Social Security’s changeover in March 2013 from paying retirees’ benefits by a mailed paper check to requiring the recipient to use a direct deposit account to receive their benefit or to use a Direct Express® card. With this card, Social Security will deposit the federal benefit payment directly into the recipient's card account. The monthly benefits will be available on the usual payment day. The card can be used to make purchases, pay bills or get cash at what the SSA says are "thousands of locations."

The opportunities are legion to scam those Social Security recipients who had opted to receive paper checks by mail. They will be getting phone calls and mailings from scammers who will have devised ways to exploit the confusion that will result from the changeover.

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If you are a Social Security recipient or have family members or friends who are, the best course is to arrange for direct deposit into a bank account. To arrange that, call the local Social Security office at 866-770-1881 (TTY 203-967-9902).

And remember, if anyone asks for your Social Security number or bank account information by a phone call you did not initiate or by a letter that is not a response to a request by you, DON’T DO IT!

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