I came across an interesting read about how the majority of financial investment frauds  in the Unites States are coming from scams of the senior population. According to the 2009 article released by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, “financial abuse costs older Americans more than $2.6 billion per year.”  In addition between 2007-2009 there have been over 70 declared cases of scamming of the elder population. There have been typical cases of elder clients whose foundations’ or retirement funds’ finances are managed by brokers who would misuse the money without the owner’s knowledge or the company’s approval.

It is clear that seniors are the demographical group that is the most susceptible to being targets of brokers looking to scam people. It is often the case that some elders have lost their jobs and are unable to find new employment. With old age and increasing competition in the market these seniors’ chances of finding a new job to sustain themselves would be very low. Therefore investment would seem as a possible solution to fix their financial needs, and since most seniors do not possess financial knowledge they would rely mostly on the advice of their consultants.

Most scam brokers would first try to gain the trust of the senior, normally through giving them lots of attention and visits, and then persuading them into risky investments through appealing promises such as early retirement, lots of money for their children, etc. This is a perfect example of marketing strategies which target vulnerable people, and try to take advantage of their situation. Many victims are in poor health conditions and cannot testify in court, and many are too embarrassed to file fraud charges.

Work Cited:

Klein, Florence. “Introduction | Silver Planet.” Silver Planet – Eldercare help when you need it most.. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http://www.silverplanet.com/scams/scam-alerts/unethical-brokers-still-targeting-seniors/55810#.US7qOTC9ZBl>.