How to extort money from grandma: a guide for scammers
6 medical Fraud Schemes to Deceive the Elderly
Kristina Sagan, Copper News
In criminal news, information regularly appears about how scammers take away a lot of money from the elderly. Scammers often use multi-pass schemes in which even a not very trusting person will notice the catch only after some time. We have collected the most popular ways to deceive elderly people in the field of medicine and found out how to recognize scammers.
Scheme No. 1
Dietary supplements instead of medicines
Most elderly people are used to unconditionally believe what they say on the radio. And this is often used by scammers, placing ads for their "miracle" drugs in this way, and the phrase "discounts for pensioners" works very well for the target audience.
To the pensioner who called the specified number, "a famous professor from a famous research institute" convincingly tells about the unique properties of the drug and the amazing effect that it has (in fact, it is most often a cheap dietary supplement, not a drug). And discounts are provided, we can say, on an individual basis: fraudsters, having previously asked what kind of money a pensioner owns, can significantly "reduce" the cost of the drug.
Often these people are not limited to one appointment, but carry out a whole course of treatment. Pensioners take out loans, sell real estate to buy expensive dietary supplements. Payment methods can be different: preliminary transfer of funds to a bank account or payment to a courier, who even issues a check.
Scheme No. 2
Equipment rental and sale
Fraudsters on the phone offer elderly people to undergo treatment with the help of the latest medical equipment that can be rented or bought. Both the rent and the cost of the device can reach several hundred thousand rubles. The money needs to be transferred to a bank account. Fraudsters provide pensioners with fake contracts with the "seals" of the Ministry of Health and Roszdravnadzor.
Scheme No. 3
A call from the prosecutor's office
Fraudsters on the phone offer elderly people to buy expensive medicine from them, for which it is necessary to transfer money to a bank account. After the pensioner realizes that he has been deceived and goes to the police, the scammers call him again and introduce themselves as law enforcement officers. Fraudsters report that the suspects have been detained, and the victim is entitled to monetary compensation. But to get it, you first need to transfer a certain amount to a checking account.
According to another scheme, a pensioner is sold dietary supplements, then they call from the "prosecutor's office" and the "Ministry of Health" and say that "the product you used is radioactive. It has a destructive effect on your body – in other words, you decompose at the gene level." After that, it is proposed to transfer to a bank account a certain amount for hospitalization and treatment.
Scheme No. 4
Urgent hospitalization or exchange of CHI policies
The pensioner gets a call from the "head of the department" of the district polyclinic, asks for a long time what tests the patient passed the last time he passed, and then reports the diagnosis (of course, very serious). The "doctor" tells the patient that he sent an ambulance to him, you need to collect all the necessary things and go outside to meet the doctors. If the pensioner does not agree, he is switched to the "chief physician", who convinces the patient of the need for urgent hospitalization. After the pensioner leaves the house, the scammers get into his apartment and steal it.
The "employees of the polyclinic" are also robbed, who allegedly came to change the compulsory medical insurance policy. While two distract an elderly man, the third criminal takes jewelry and money from the apartment.
Scheme No. 5
Cancer Treatment
There are several schemes with a similar beginning: an elderly person receives a call from an employee of a laboratory / polyclinic / hospital and reports that the tests that the pensioner recently passed showed that he has cancer (or any other serious illness).
Also, scammers can name existing human diseases (for this they buy databases). Then there are two options for the development of events:
a) a pensioner is told that he can buy a medicine that will definitely cure him;
b) they offer to pay for hospitalization to a clinic where a well-known professor will treat him (you can even talk to a "professor").
The drug PT-141, which is sold to pensioners under the guise of a cancer drug, is intended only for use in animal research and, presumably, helps with some sexual disorders in both men and women
Scheme No. 6
Magic Treatment
Fraudsters, posing as psychics, magicians and healers, put serious diagnoses on the phone to elderly people and offer to carry out treatment with the help of magical rites. Of course, with advance payment (money must be put into a bank account). After the ceremony, it turns out that one session is not enough, and the amount can grow significantly.
Why is it so easy to deceive the elderly
Scientists from the University of California at Los Angeles have found out why older people are so easily deceived. The study participants were asked to evaluate which images of faces arouse trust, distrust or are neutral. Older people more often than young people took suspicious persons for those who arouse trust or are neutral. Scientists suggest that the reason is the reduced activity of the brain islet in old age. Previous studies have proven that this particular part of the brain is responsible for assessing risk and possible danger. As a result, the excessive credulity of many elderly people.
How to understand that these are scammers
This list of fraudulent schemes is far from complete. But in all cases, you can adhere to simple safety rules that will help you stop in time.
If a pensioner suddenly receives a call from an employee of a district polyclinic, laboratory, prosecutor's office, Ministry of Health and further down the list, it is worth treating the words of a stranger very critically. Doctors, nurses, and police officers almost never call to report any important news. There are personal meetings for this. Officials can indeed call, but only if a person has left them their phone number to inform them about a specific case.
If the caller has some information about the pensioner's health status, place of residence, marital status, this does not mean at all that he is an official. Such information for money can fall into the hands of scammers.
It is worth writing down the surname, first name, patronymic, position of the caller, as well as those people who were mentioned in the conversation. Then you need to contact the polyclinic or hospital where this person supposedly works, and clarify whether he is really an employee of the institution.
Before you give a large sum of money for medicine or hospitalization, you must first talk to someone. Scammers are trying to convince a person that it is necessary to act urgently, but there is always time to call relatives or friends. Often a person, even just saying what the scammers tried to convince him of, understands the plan of deception.
An attempt to deceive or fraud can be reported to the Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor) – 8 499 578-01-35 (medical devices), 8 499 578-01-27 (medicines). And, of course, you should contact law enforcement agencies.
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24.09.2014