How to Talk to Parents About the Future

How do you approach a parent of a family member, about their situation - when they might be in a bit of denial?

This article is helpful.

https://www.caring.com/articles/difficult-conversations-with-seniors?emailauth=1203658:c3f508758:-10950&utm_campaign=how-to-have-the-talk:13&utm_content=20151217&utm_medium=email&utm_source=local_updates_hc

FCC Gives Phone Companies Right to Block Robocalls

The Federal Communications Commission has given the nation's phone companies the green light to block those annoying and illegal robocalls - as well as unwanted spam text messages.

By a 3 to 2 vote, the FCC told the companies Thursday that they are legally allowed to provide this service to customers who request it in order to take back control of their phones.

Just because the phone companies have permission to use this screening technology, however, doesn't mean they will. The FCC can't force them to do it. And so far, there's been no indication they plan to provide this service.

The technology already exists to protect customers from unwanted and illegal robocalls that are often used by scammers, but wireless and landline phone companies have not embraced it.

In the past, no matter how consumers complain, landline phone companies have refused to do it or to allow third-party screening software to work on their networks. 

AT&T has insisted that federal law and FCC regulations require them to deliver every call and specifically prohibit them from blocking any calls, even those consumers don't want. Now that one-third of America no longer uses land lines, and because so many people are losing their life savings from robocall powered phone scams, more pressure will mount on telephone companies to give consumers relief. 

59 Year Old Steals Life Savings of 92 Year Old

DETROIT -

The victim is 92-year-old Mable Miles, who has lived in Los Angeles for many years. Los Angeles police say 59-year-old Carlson Alyn Jackson. 

Los Angeles police say that Jackson, of Detroit, took every last dime of her money before disappearing. Miles' niece, Carol White, got the call that her aunt had no food or money, and needed help. 

"The way he took her property and put it in the bank, somehow transferred it out, she was left literally broke," said White.

Here is the complete story. 

Phoney Kidnap Scam

Phoney Kidnap Scam

Here is how it works - don't be a victim:

1. You get a strange call, and a recording of a familiar voice saying they are kidnapped
2. They say they don't know where they are and they are cut off
3. A voice comes on the line and gives you a western union name and address
4.  They tell you to not call authorities, or they will harm the loved one
5.   You hear screams in the background - and the sounds of somebody that is familiar to you begging for help.  The voice tells you that you have one hour to wire the money - before they kill the victim.
6.  You send money - hoping to save the loved one. They were actually never kidnapped. You have no relative by that name.

Have your own personal horror story? Post it in the comments and it will give others insight into how these operators trick people. It will help, a lot. 

Free Credit Monitoring With AAA

When you are a AAA member, you are entitled to free credit monitoring, which is the most effective defense against identity theft.

It is a service provided by Experian Credit, and does not include monitoring of the other two major agencies. But it is valuable, since most big transactions appear on all three reporting agencies.

Learn more about it here. 


The only way to prevent being victimized is to monitor your credit, since it is so easy for people to get your social security number.  There are no government agencies or non-profit firms that help you with identity theft.  A few private companies, such as LifeLock, advertise special protection over and above monitoring.  But monitoring is a good place to start, and can prevent I.D. thieves from doing the most serious damage. Don't wait until you are victimized, start monitoring your credit activity now. 

IRS Collection Phone Scam

The latest major trend in telemarketing fraud is a foreign-based IRS collection scam; and it is causing many to lose thousands.

Seniors are told that they owe money to the IRS; in some cases, the area code will be 202, which is the area code for Washington D.C.. This, along with a lot of authentic sounding jargon, makes the calls very convincing. Of course, many Americans are suspicious of the calls because the callers often have very heavy foreign accents.

WSMV Channel 4

Revolkable Living Trusts

Dealing with wills and inheiretance are a necessity, but challenging.

If you don't crate a will, your estate is placed in probate, with the huge legal fees - often eating up or forcing the quick sale of property. And that doesn't even include inheritance taxes.

If you create a will, and live in a state with heavy taxes, your heirs will have to pay inheritance tax, and that can sometimes be excessive; sometimes forcing the sale of the home - ultimately - disinheriting the heirs it was destined for.

If you create a living trust, sometimes children will abuse their property rights before the parent passes, taking out loans and even getting the parent evicted from their own property. If you don't think this is a problem, we have a bridge to sell you; its located in Brooklyn New York, and its very valuable. Not really. But the point we're trying to make is, when it comes to living trusts, parents instantly lose the leverage that they have with a last will and testament. That leverage being - "Those who care for me and treat me right might get all or a majority of my property. Those who abuse or neglect me stand to get less or none. As brutal and cold as this might sound, it is nothing compared to the ways that children can abuse and neglect their elderly parents.

The state, unfortunately, invented the inheritance tax as a means of collecting revenue from the inheritance - without much care or regard for its negative impact on family legacy property.

So what is the best way to avoid the tax liability and at the same time, protect the parent's residential status and the property from being abused?

A revolkable living trust is the best instrument.

What is a revolckable living trust?  It is essentially, an instrument that retroactively transfers the property to the heir before the demise of the parent; executed after their demise. Although there might be some state taxes and fees associated with this, this is generally the most cost effective way to avoid excessive inheritance taxes and legal fees. 

Seniors Tased by Law Enforcement

It seems that there are more lawsuits against police officers who abuse senior citizens with tasers and police dogs.

Marin County paid $1.9 million to Peter McFarland, to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who accused sheriff's deputies of shocking him with a taser, after he refused to go to the hospital after he fell. "Federal law surrounding the use of Tasers is more restrictive today than it was in 2009, when deputies used a Taser to help take Peter McFarland in custody," Faulkner said.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/tased-house-california-man-sues-police-disturbing-visit/story?id=11531608


Texas Deputy Fired for Tasing Elderly Man

The Victoria, Texas police department on Monday fired the officer who used a Taser on a 76-year-old man when attempting to arrest him for driving with an expired inspection sticker, the Victoria Advocate reported.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/texas-officer-taser-fired

The Biggest Phone Scam - The Sweepstakes Win

If you get a call from a sweepstakes company, telling you that you have won a lot of money, do not believe it. There are a few other very powerful scams, We'll talk about two very popular ones.

Sweepstakes Phone Scam

I don't care if it is $10,000 or a million dollars. It is probably a sham. Here is how the phoney sweepstakes ganks work.

1. A strange call from a restricted number or international number will call.
2. They will tell you that you have one a million dollars or more.
3. They will say that there are taxes on the winnings, and that you are responsible
4. They will provide some confidential information about you, your family, etc, They got this from stolen confidential information.
5. They tell you to send the taxes via Western Union, to a specific name (generally not a company), in a U.S. or Canadian city.
6. The actual scammer could be in any city in the world, and simply have a pick up person in North America.
7. Once the sweepstakes scammer picks up your money at Western Union, it is gone forever, and because the name they used is phoney, police have no way of identifying them.
8. You never get your sweepstakes, because there was never any contest. But you knew that. The problem is - senior citizens often slip up and fall for these scams.

Medical Emergency Scam

1. A strange call from a restricted number or international number will call.
2. They will tell you that your relative is out of the country in Mexico, Nigeria, etc.
3. They will tell you their name and tell you that they were in a terrible auto or aircraft crash
4. They will provide some confidential information about this family, etc, They got this from stolen confidential information.
5. They will tell you that this person needs emergency surgery, and that it costs $10,000
6. They tell you to send the taxes via Western Union, to a specific name (generally not a hospital or HMO), in a U.S. or Canadian city.
7. The actual scammer could be in any city in the world, and simply have a pick up person in North America.
8. Once the medical emergency scammer picks up your money at Western Union, it is gone forever, and because the name they used is phoney, police have no way of identifying them.


Foreign Jail Scam

1. Your long lost grandchild calls you from a foreign jail.
2. They give you a name that is familiar, but you are out of touch with - for years
3. You are told that they will imprison this teen for life if you don't bail them out
4. They start crying and getting emotional, then they give you a western union name and address
5. You send them $10,000, and that is it - the money is gone forever

Elder Abuse - Textbook Bullying

Bully culture has increased because of a lack of good parenting, strong structure and what seems to be a desensitized youth culture, fixated on electronic devices, no longer interested in even talking to other human beings. Everybody knows that adult children often bully their aging parents. But seniors are bullied at nursing homes, hospitals and on the street too. Here are the different types of - bullying:

a)Exploitation - forcing them to watch children, etc.
b)Physical harm - all types
c)Threats of physical harm
d)Threatens more harm of they tell


Any abuse can cause serious long term trauma and harm, but if it is a family member, the  bullying can have profoundly damaging affect on senior citizens.

Stop bullying.

Mickie Rooney Get's Last Laugh at Abusive Wife and Kids

Rooney claimed that his children abused him severely, and considering his estate was almost completely insolvent, one tends to believe Rooney. Rooney disinherited his children, his wife and all but one of her children. Despite an unmatched 90-year film career, his estate only had $18,000.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/showbiz/mickey-rooney-will/

Rooney was not just a gifted actor, singer, dancer and writer - he was a pioneer. He testified before the U.S. Senate on the topic of elder abuse, and even though we have a long way to go before Americans learn to be more caring and sensitive to the special needs of seniors, we all owe Mickey Rooney a lot for speaking out about the topic.

Welcome to Senior Alert - Post tips and alerts about abusive providers, care givers, telemarketers, healthcare organizations and more

Protecting senior citizens against financial fraud and all types of abuse. Post tips and alerts about abusive providers, care givers, telemarketers, healthcare organizations and more. All posts are moderated and we enforce strict rules on being polite to everybody.