Mobile phone plans marketed specifically to empty nesters? That’s exactly what T-Mobile is introducing this week, with version of its unlimited plan aimed at older adults without kids, or who have finally managed to cut their kids loose from the family plan. The catch? To get the best price, you have to sign up as a couple. [More]
senior citizens
Did Wells Fargo Target Seniors? Lawmakers Want To Find Out
By 9.27.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
We’ve said it countless times: those who attempt – and often succeed – at scamming senior citizens of their savings are among the worst of the worst. Now lawmakers want to know if the Wells Fargo employees who created millions of unauthorized accounts were preying upon vulnerable senior citizen customers. [More]
Man Will Pay Dentist Bill With 45 Years’ Worth Of Pennies
By 10.29.15
A 73-year-old man in Louisiana did not originally start saving all of his pennies as a fun personal finance hack. He says that he began the habit 45 years ago as a reminder to pray every day. His collection grew with the help of a friend who had a similar collection of nickels and by simply holding on to every penny that passed through his hands. [More]
Telemarketers Took Millions From Senior Citizens In Medicare Card Scam
By 7.27.15
There’s now one less unsavory, immoral, disrespectful group scamming senior citizens of their savings, as federal regulators took action against the operators of a scheme in which telemarketers pretended to be Medicare representatives in order to bilk millions of dollars from older consumers. [More]
State Of Indiana Does Not Think Senior Center Card Games Are Secret Gambling Den
By 7.20.15
Last week, the Indiana Gaming Commission contacted a senior center in Muncie to let them know that a popular activity, thrice-weekly games of euchre (a four-player card game) was possibly breaking the state’s gambling law. The seniors shut down their game, not wanting to run afoul of gambling regulations. When the story hit local news, the state government clarified that this type of card game was not really what they had in mind for a crackdown on informal gambling venues. [More]
Warn Your Parents And Grandparents About The Fake Grandchild Debt Scam
By 7.10.15
It seems like as soon as we warn the public about a nefarious phone scam, another slight variation sprouts up to vacuum more money from the pockets of innocent people. This new scam that we’ve learned about combines a focus on grandparents with the urgency and fear of the overdue taxes and jury duty scams that we’ve shared with you recently. What these scams have in common, of course, is that the problem can always be solved with the number from a prepaid debit card. [More]
FTC Orders Company That Swindled Tens Of Millions From Seniors To Pay $10M Judgment
By 3.12.15
We’ve said it too many times to count at this point, but scammers who take advantage of senior citizens are the worst. Today, the Federal Trade Commission made sure there was one less scammer out there by permanently barring the mastermind behind a multi-million dollar fraud from all future telemarketing activities. [More]
Pizza Hut Thinks That Old Italian People Hating Its Pizza Is A Good Thing
By 11.21.14
Pizza Hut is trying some new crusts and toppings in an attempt to coax Americans back under its formerly red roofs. We sent a colleague to try them out, and she reported back that the 21 varieties of new toppings and crusts she tried were nice, but not spectacular. Therefore, Pizza Hut has apparently turned to reverse psychology to sell their new offerings. [More]
FTC Shuts Down Two Tech Support Schemes That Bilked $120M From Consumers
By 11.20.14
Sometimes when you can’t fix your computer yourself you turn to the experts. Unfortunately, some of those tech wizards are only out to help themselves. That appears to be the case for two Florida-based companies that allegedly conned tens of thousands of consumers – many of whom were senior citizens – out of $120 million by deceptively marketing computer software and tech support. [More]
Family Annoyed That Southwest Misplaced 85-Year-Old Woman
By 8.26.14
We recently published a post about a 7-year-old traveling as an unaccompanied minor who Delta handed over to the wrong relative. Families pay for extra supervision when kids fly unaccompanied, but what about unaccompanied seniors? A family in Colorado says that instead of escorting her to her Southwest Airlines flight, airport staff parked her wheelchair out of the way for hours instead of putting her on the plane. [More]
Report: Older Americans Facing Significant Increases In Mortgage Debt Load
By 5.7.14
Once upon a time reaching retirement age meant consumers would have less on their plates and more time to enjoy their golden years. Part of that included no longer holding a mortgage. But a refinancing boom during the 2000s and a trend of buying homes later in life has left many older Americans with a substantial amount of mortgage debt. [More]
Medical Alert Device Robocalls Scammed $13 Million From Elderly
By 1.13.14
Unwanted robocalls are bad enough. But there’s a special place (not a good place, either) for companies that use robocalls to scam the elderly out of their savings. One Orlando-based operation, accused of scamming $13 million from senior citizens, now has a confirmed reservation in that special place. [More]
How AOL Drove My 80-Year-Old Neighbor To Gmail
By 10.9.13
Sometimes you’re better off packing it in and walking away from an account, even a free one, when things just aren’t working anymore. That’s the conclusion that Josh’s octogenarian neighbor came to regarding her AOL account. AOL, when you aren’t even holding on to the senior citizen market, that’s a bad sign. [More]
Watch Out For Tax Scams Pushing False Stimulus Credits
By 3.5.12
The Internal Revenue Service issued a warning for a tax preparation fraud involving phony credits based on stimulus packages. Hucksters are apparently targeting the elderly and tricking them into taking tax credits geared toward college students. [More]
Recession Turns Homeowner Association Fights Brutal
By 7.13.11
Florida is full of condo complexes run by homeowner’s associations. After you’ve bought and paid for your condo, all you have to do is pay the monthly maintenance fees and you get trim lawns, a snappy billiards room, and a clean shuffleboard area. But as the economy stews in its own juices, the AP reports, some seniors living on a fixed income are having trouble making these monthly payments – and no wonder, with special assessments of $6,000 – and are getting foreclosed on by their own neighbors for as little as being 60 days past due on their fees. Some of them have also stopped making payments in protest over things like the rats, and the sewage raining on their head: [More]
Do Not Buy Insurance Called 'ObamaCare'
By 8.30.10
Con artists went door-to-door in California selling senior citizens fake health care policies called “ObamaCare,” threatening that they’d have to go to jail unless they paid up. The unfortunate marks fell victim to a con, unaware that the actual jail-threatening ObamaCare peddlers will be wearing official Star Wars stormtrooper uniforms and won’t be hitting the streets until well after the midterm elections. [More]
New Hampshire Grandmother Dies After National Grid Cuts Power
By 6.27.10
53-year-old New Hampshire grandmother Kay Phaneuf died this weekend after National Grid cut her power over an unpaid bill. Phaneuf suffered from a heart condition that required her to sleep in an oxygen tent and use a plug-in oxygen machine. The worker who disconnected the power after ringing Phaneuf’s bell and waiting several minutes at the door apparently didn’t notice a big red sign that warned people not to smoke because of the oxygen machine. National Grid is claiming they followed proper procedures, but that isn’t stopping New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission from opening an investigation. [More]
"The Woman Next To Me At Eat'n Park Kept Kicking An Old Lady!"
By 3.22.10
What should you do when you witness someone abusing someone else, but you’re in a retail establishment and the management won’t help you? While eating at an Eat’n Park last week, Myriad claims she watched a young woman repeatedly kick the elderly lady sitting with her, and when Myriad tried to intervene the girl threatened to punch Myriad in the face. Myriad says the manager refused to cooperate, only repeating that he knew the girl and that she was “very nice.” [More]
