Telemarketers Preying on the Elderly

[EZEtoGRU]

I've moved back to Michigan and in with my 88 year-old parents in July this year. They have gotten to the point that they cannot stay in their house without a significant amount of help. Since I am retired and available, I decided to do this for the time being to give them the opportunity to stay at home for as long as possible until other arrangements need to be made. Both of them have health issues although my father is in a more serious state of health at this point. We seem to be going to endless doctor appointments (between 2-4 per week)....so that occupies much of our time.

 

Anyway, having been with them for almost 6 months now, I am shocked at the number of phone calls they get (land line) from telemarketers pushing a variety of products. Many of them health care related. In the lead up to Medicare re-enrollment....there have been many many calls for getting supplemental policies (which they had already chosen). My dad sometimes uses catheters when he is unable to urinate on his own. The catheter suppliers call constantly to get them to order up to 90 catheters (He has plenty already which he has gotten "free" from the doctors). Mom says yesterday she took three calls from the same catheter supplier trying to get them to order. Lots of calls related to home security systems. Most of the time you have no idea who the caller is or what company they represent. The phone display only says "Michigan Call".

 

Anyway, I guess this thread is just a rant about how awful it is that these telemarketers are feeding on the fears of older people. My parents are, in my opinion, too nice to these callers. I think that's a reflection of people of their generation as well as people of their age. I have no problem being curt with these callers and telling them no we are not interested. Anyone else run into these issues with their loved ones or maybe even yourselves. How do you handle it?

[+ Charlie]

I have stopped answering my land-line phone if I don't recognize the ID or phone number. If I do pick up by mistake or just out of idle curiosity, I cut them off quickly with a simple, "Sorry. Not interested. Don't bother to call again." (But they will, over and over, because they think I probably won't remember them.) Luckily, my aged spouse has always hated to answer the phone, so it is easy to get him to just ignore the ringing.

[+ sync]

If your parent's telephone has caller ID, a call-answering system and a call-blocking option, activating the call-blocking option can significantly reduce the annoyance of telemarketers. I have experienced being inundated with telemarketing callers. It is very rare now because, if I don't recognize the caller ID, I let the calls go to voicemail, which puts their telephone numbers into my telephone's memory. I then upload their numbers into my telephone's call-blocking option. Now, when they call again, my telephone rings once and then displays the "caller blocked" prompt. Many times if I don't answer the phone, they just hang up without leaving a message, which gets their number entered into the call-blocking option. This technology has significantly enhanced my home life.

[+ bashful]

FWIW, the calls I was getting (I never answered if didn't recognize the name/number on the caller ID) decreased somewhat, but not a lot as I still get them, when I started submitting complaints on the donotcall.gov website.

[jawjateck]

The sneaky bastards also use official looking titles to appear on the caller ID hoping to trick unsuspecting seniors to fall for their sales pitch or scam. When I'm parent-sitting, I look at the caller ID and if it's from a strange number, business, agency, or "charity", I just end the call immediately without a hello.

[EZEtoGRU]

The sneaky bastards also use official looking titles to appear on the caller ID hoping to trick unsuspecting seniors to fall for their sales pitch or scam.

 

That's so true. I noticed that several of the callers try and act like they are from Medicare (and in fact they are not) in order to try to make you take them more seriously.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. I see that, sadly, this is a common problem.

 

I have not had a land line for years. The wireless line I have is from Texas and I have never gotten many telemarketing calls on it. It seems its harder for the telemarketers to figure out who wireless callers are and where they live.

[Hornplatz]

That's so true. I noticed that several of the callers try and act like they are from Medicare (and in fact they are not) in order to try to make you take them more seriously.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. I see that, sadly, this is a common problem.

 

I have not had a land line for years. The wireless line I have is from Texas and I have never gotten many telemarketing calls on it. It seems its harder for the telemarketers to figure out who wireless callers are and where they live.

 

When the phone rings I let it go into the answering machine and when a message is being left and I recognize the caller, I pick up. Most of the time

when the caller gets the "message" from the machine, they hang up. It used to annoy some friends that I screened my calls but they have gotten used

to it.

[kewtex]

I tell my mom to ignore calls from numbers she doesn't recognize. She keeps answering them. Parents!

[+ not2rowdy]

I dropped my landline a couple of years ago. I kept a log and over a 2+ year period and less than 5pct were “real” calls. Cellphone only now. I believe there’s a regulation on the books that doesn’t allow telemarketing calls to known cellphone numbers. Maybe something to think about IRT NOT porting a landline number to a cellphone.

 

The big landline providers complain about the loss of customers. Well…Duhhh…they have no one to blame but themselves!! When they get off their asses and take an active role in policing out of control telemarketing calls then I might consider looking at one of their TV/Internet/Phone bundles again.

 

But for now I am unbundled. No land line. And I dropped TV subscription service about a year ago. TV now comes free over the air through an antenna. A downside is that I do spend more time on my computer and the internet. I still kind of miss my cable news fix - but I’m surviving.

[Hornplatz]

I tell my mom to ignore calls from numbers she doesn't recognize. She keeps answering them. Parents!

 

Referring to your comment about your mother and answering phone calls. My mother would receive solicitations from charitable organizations and

she would donate to them by sending cash. I explained and harassed her that sending cash would most likely be pocketed by those volunteers or staff

who opened the mail. Of course, she said "Oh, people are not like that." I finally gave up as she wouldn't change her beliefs and ways. She was still

living her innocent and much younger days. It's a shame they are gone.

[Nvr2Thick]

My brother's in-laws in New York State received a call requesting a wire transfer of funds for their grandson, my brother's son, a sophomore at UCLA. The caller said that their grandson had been involved in a fight and was in jail. The request was for bail money, and the boy had supposedly requested that the callers contact the grandparents because he didn't want his parents to know. There are a half dozen things wrong with this story logistically, even excepting the doubts in play based on the character of my brother's straight-arrow nerdy kid, but the grandparents questioned little and were prepared to follow through. Impressively, the Western Union agent set up the transaction, but insisted that they verify the situation with someone before she executed the transfer. Sure enough, their grandson was out of town at a marching band event.

 

My brother followed up with the university and eventually discovered that there had been a few of these incidents involving someone calling elderly family members of out of state students. My brother was impressed with the amount of work it would take to make a connection between his son and his in-laws since he raised his family in Massachusetts and Ohio, and his in-laws have always lived in the same town in upstate NY. I did a quick check, however, and found that through Internet searches and directories you can make the connection from his son's name to his grandparents' phone number in four or five clicks. My mom's name and number is also readily available. She might have been a target, except that she's a lot more savvy.

[Guy Fawkes]

https://www.donotcall.gov/ does work.

What You Should Know About the National Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

 

I've moved back to Michigan and in with my 88 year-old parents in July this year. They have gotten to the point that they cannot stay in their house without a significant amount of help. Since I am retired and available, I decided to do this for the time being to give them the opportunity to stay at home for as long as possible until other arrangements need to be made. Both of them have health issues although my father is in a more serious state of health at this point. We seem to be going to endless doctor appointments (between 2-4 per week)....so that occupies much of our time.

[+ Charlie]

The problem with the Do Not Call Registry is that it is easy for telemarketers to ignore it. Worse, most of the kinds of scams mentioned in this thread do not fall under the term "telemarketing."

[actor61]

The problem with the Do Not Call Registry is that it is easy for telemarketers to ignore it. Worse, most of the kinds of scams mentioned in this thread do not fall under the term "telemarketing."

I've gotten 3 robo calls in the past month that are very, very clever. The phone rings, I pick up and say "hello", there's a pause, and then I hear a young woman's voice giggle and say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was having trouble with my headset". The first time this happened, dumb me said, "Oh, that's okay" and then I got the recorded sales pitch for life insurance. The second time it happened, I was busy with something else and just grabbed the phone when it rang without looking at the caller ID. Again, I said, "Hello?", there was a pause, and then I heard the giggling voice say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was having trouble with my headset." The third time the company tried to call me, I recognized the number and didn't answer. Gosh, I hope that young woman has finally gotten her headset repaired.

[Zman]

I've gotten 3 robo calls in the past month that are very, very clever. The phone rings, I pick up and say "hello", there's a pause, and then I hear a young woman's voice giggle and say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was having trouble with my headset".

 

Ugghhhhhh! There's no end to the bullshit they will try....

 

Unlike some here, unfortunately, I get plenty of telemarketers and pollsters calling on my cell phone.

[+ not2rowdy]

Prior to dropping my landline I’d been known to just set the handset down next to the TV and go about my business. Sometimes it would be several minutes before you would hear the “disconnect beeping”. I figured if they want to waste my time then I’ll waste theirs. Every minute they spent listening to my TV was one less minute they could be harassing someone else. Time is money for them.

[+ bashful]

I think the prohibition on telemarketers calling cell phones has expired in the last year or so. My favorite to my cell is the six or more "final notices" for the opportunity to lower my credit card interest rates. Reported that to donotcall and they stopped (for now). I agree, there isn't enough teeth in the donotcall system, and I also agree, landline phone providers can do more, but the business they get from the telemarketers is more profitable than the business from residents.

[+ not2rowdy]

Per this FCC link telemarking to cellphones remains illegal in most cases.

Of course you can always trust what the government says.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-phones-and-national-do-not-call-list

[actor61]

I think the prohibition on telemarketers calling cell phones has expired in the last year or so. My favorite to my cell is the six or more "final notices" for the opportunity to lower my credit card interest rates. Reported that to donotcall and they stopped (for now). I agree, there isn't enough teeth in the donotcall system, and I also agree, landline phone providers can do more, but the business they get from the telemarketers is more profitable than the business from residents.

Yeah, I get those too. I also get offers for car repair programs. That's how well informed they are; I haven't owned a car in 4 years.

 

Almost as bad as the telemarketing calls are the solicitations I receive in the mail. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have daily loan offers in my mailbox from companies with names like Lending Club, Rise, and Prosper. Yesterday's offered me a $5,000 loan at 107% interest - I'm not kidding - 107% interest! I shred all of these offers because I've heard stories of people fishing them out of trash bins and committing ID theft with them. Who in the world would accept a loan offer that carried 107% interest?!

[Guy Fawkes]

Can be costly for them to ignore:

 

The FTC takes aggressive legal action to make sure telemarketers abide by the Do Not Call Registry. To date, the Commission has brought 105 enforcement actions against companies and telemarketers for Do Not Call, abandoned call, robocall and Registry violations. The Mortgage Investors litigation produced the largest settlement for Do Not Call violations, resulting in civil penalty payments of $7.5 million. To date, 80 of these FTC enforcement actions have been resolved, and in those cases the agency has recovered over $41 million in civil penalties and $33 million in redress or disgorgement.

--

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/do-not-call-registry/enforcement

 

My personal experience is that it dramatically reduces the number of calls.

 

The problem with the Do Not Call Registry is that it is easy for telemarketers to ignore it. Worse, most of the kinds of scams mentioned in this thread do not fall under the term "telemarketing."

[Hornplatz]

Prior to dropping my landline I’d been known to just set the handset down next to the TV and go about my business. Sometimes it would be several minutes before you would hear the “disconnect beeping”. I figured if they want to waste my time then I’ll waste theirs. Every minute they spent listening to my TV was one less minute they could be harassing someone else. Time is money for them.

 

I like that reply. I have also just held it in my hand and said nothing until they would hang up.

[+ bashful]

That's how well informed they are; I haven't owned a car in 4 years.

 

And, I haven't carried a balance on a credit card in 10 years.

[Epigonos]

My older sister answered her land line a couple of years ago. The guy on the other end of the line said hi grandma and my sister responded just fine Bobby and asked him how he was doing. He said he was in Mexico City with a friend and the friend had been mistakenly arrested and he needed $600 to get his friend released. My sister said wait a minute and I'll get you grandfather. My brother-in-law took to telephone and said hi Bobby and by the way what is you middle name. The phone went immediately dead. To this day I marvel at my brother-in-laws response -- so perfect. When I asked him about it later he said "I might be old but by god I'm not stupid". My brother-in-law was 86 at the time.

[nycguy]

I am registered with both the federal and NYS do not call list. It hasn't stopped them. Most of the time when I receive a call from a number I do not recognize I just pick up and hang up right away. Every once in awhile I will pick up and talk to the person (often after listening to a pre-recording and pressing 1 to be put through to a real person). If it is a woman, I will say something like, "Oh baby, you sound so hot. Are you fingering your pussy right now? How wet is it?" If it is a guy I will say something like, "Did you call me because you know I have a big, dripping cock for you to suck? Are you hard and stroking?"

 

It doesn't stop future calls, but it's a lot of fun seeing how outraged and moral people can get when they are trying to steal your money.

[+ Charlie]

Can be costly for them to ignore:

 

The FTC takes aggressive legal action to make sure telemarketers abide by the Do Not Call Registry. To date, the Commission has brought 105 enforcement actions against companies and telemarketers for Do Not Call, abandoned call, robocall and Registry violations. The Mortgage Investors litigation produced the largest settlement for Do Not Call violations, resulting in civil penalty payments of $7.5 million. To date, 80 of these FTC enforcement actions have been resolved, and in those cases the agency has recovered over $41 million in civil penalties and $33 million in redress or disgorgement.

--

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/do-not-call-registry/enforcement

 

My personal experience is that it dramatically reduces the number of calls.

Our experiences differ. I am registered for Do Not Call, but the calls that I get every day are either the kinds of scams mentioned throughout this thread--I've even had the bogus IRS threats if I don't send money immediately (they left messages when I didn't pick up)--or requests for donations from organizations whose legitimacy is unclear. The latter often start by thanking me for previous donations, although I know I have never given them anything. I recently got one from "private caller" that said it was from a small town where I happen to know people, so I answered, and it was a request to renew a subscription to a magazine which I do receive, but I don't pay for it myself; when I asked where she was calling from, she named a place in a different state hundreds of miles from where the ID said the call originated. I often google persistent callers, and there are usually plenty of complaints about them.