65 and Older Population SoarS.
important Safety Tips for Seniors.
There are now more Americans age 65 and older than at any other time in U.S. history. According to a new Census Bureau report, there were 40.3 million people age 65 and older on April 1, 2010, up 5.3 percent from 35 million in 2000 (and just 3.1 million in 1900). The 65-and-older population jumped 15.1 percent between 2000 and 2010, compared with a 9.7 percent increase for the total U.S. population. People age 65 and older now make up 13 percent of the total population, compared with 12.4 percent in 2000 and 4.1 percent in 1900.
Seniors Living Alone.
Seniors living alone are a growing segment of the population as people live longer and families are separated by great distances. More and more services are being required of third parties — local government agencies and private-hire care companies — to make home a safe place to be for the area’s aging population.
According to the U.S. Census, 11.3 million people, almost 30 percent of those aged 65 and older in the U.S., live alone. For women aged 85 and older, that number grows to more than half. Locally, the 2005-2009 American Community Survey revealed slightly lower numbers on the Peninsula, where one out of every four of the region’s 80,715 senior residents live alone. Many of those are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Nationwide, the Alzheimer’s Association reports that 800,000 people, one in seven of those with Alzheimer’s disease, live by themselves in the community.
IMPORTANT SAFETY Tips for Seniors.
Make Your Home Safe and Secure.
- Be sure your street address is large, clear of obstruction and well lighted so police and other emergency personnel can find your home quickly.
- When someone knocks at your door, don’t open it unless you know the visitor.
- Have a peephole installed in your door and USE IT.
- Use a chain lock so you don’t have to open the door all the way to see out.
- If a person is a salesperson or claims to be representing a company or agency, ask that the credentials be slipped under the door. Verify the person’s identity by calling the business. REFUSE TO DEAL WITH ANYONE WHO WILL NOT COMPLY WITH THIS REQUEST.
- If someone comes to your door claiming they need to make a call for an emergency: NEVER OPEN THE DOOR. TAKE THE MESSAGE AND MAKE THE CALL FOR THEM.
- If someone comes to the door that you do not trust or whom you believe may be dangerous, call 9-1-1 immediately.
- If you have a portable phone, carry it with you when answering the door.
- Check your locks. make sure every external door has a deadbolt.
- Secure sliding glass doors with commercially available locks or broom handles.
- Secure double-hung windows by sliding a bolt or nail through the hole drilled at a downward angle in each top corner of the inside sash and part way through the outside sash. Secure basement windows as well.
- Don’t hide keys in mailboxes or under doormats. Give an extra key to a neighbor you trust.
- If you hear a noise in the night that sounds like somebody breaking in, or moving around, call the police and wait for them to come. If you can leave safely, do so. otherwise, lock yourself in a room or if the intruder is in the room, pretend to be asleep.
While Out & About.
- Go out with friends or family, not alone.
- Carry your purse close to your body, not dangling by the straps. Put a wallet in an inside coat or front pants pockets.
- Sit close to the driver or near the exit while riding the bus, train, or subway.
When Walking.
- Plan your route and stay alert to your surroundings.
- Never exhibit or flash large sums of cash or other valuables.
- If you must walk at night, choose the busiest and best-lit streets.
- Walk with a companion, whenever possible.
- Greet familiar people, merchants, and vendors.
- Stay away from buildings and walk next to the street.
- Avoid dark places, shortcuts, alleys, thick trees, shrubs, and sparsely traveled areas.
- Be wary of strangers who attempt to start meaningless or odd conversations.
- Be sure to protect your bank pin number when using an ATM; be aware of strangers trying to look over your shoulder to steal personal information.
When Returning Home.
- If you come home and find a screen slit or door forced open, don’t go in. Call the police.
- If your home has been burglarized, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING UNTIL POLICE ARRIVE.
- If you enter your home and find a burglar inside, leave if you can.
- If the intruder is armed, sit down quietly and obey instructions.
- DO NOT RESIST OR FIGHT.
- Keep your gas tank full and your vehicle’s engine well maintained to avoid breakdowns.
- Always lock your door, even when you are inside and keep your windows rolled up.
- When you return to your car, always check the front and back seat before you get in.
- NEVER pick up hitchhikers.
- If your car breaks down, pull over to the right as far as possible, raise your hood and wait inside your car for help.
- Don’t leave your purse or other valuables on the seat beside you when driving, place them on the floor.
- Don’t keep your house keys on the same ring as your car keys. If your car is stolen with the keys in it, you don’t want the thief to have keys to your house.
- If you carry a purse, do not leave your keys in it.
- If you receive frequent “wrong number” calls, hang up calls, late night calls from strangers or other nuisance calls, call the security representative of your phone service provider.
- If a telephone call is obscene, hang up the telephone, but don’t slam the receiver down.
- Never allow yourself to be drawn into a conversation with an unknown caller in which you reveal your name, address, social security number, marital status, or anything that would indicate you are alone.
- Don’t let a caller know that you are angry or upset. This is a reaction they want and will often encourage them to continue.
- Don’t play detective and extend the call attempting to find out who is calling.
- Don’t try to be a councilor. The annoying or malicious caller probably needs professional help but he/she may only be encouraged by your concern and will continue calling.
- Get caller ID on your phone.
- If problem calls persist, contact your local police department for help.
- Be aware of people telling you sob stories about their”sick” relatives and sending you checks in the mail for you to cash and then wire the money to them out of the country. This is one example of typical fraud scam. The check ends up being bogus and the presenter of the check ends up being responsible for the amount of the cashed check.
- RED FLAG!! Any time you are asked to wire money out of the United States, there is a GREAT likelihood that you are about to be scammed.
- If you have been scammed, talk to the police about it and be aware that the scammers will try to get your money again.
- Scams and schemes are a criminal’s “bread and butter”. If you have a computer, a telephone, or a mailbox, you could become a victim. Your best defense is to know a scam when you see or hear it. Following are a few common scams that criminal pitch to innocent people every day.
- Credit-related scams: You are promised a credit card regardless of your credit history for an advanced fee or you are promised credit protection or credit repair services, also for a fee. You pay but the card or service is never delivered.
- Magazine sales scams: You are offered a magazine subscription at a very low price by someone who claims to work for a magazine company. The price is misrepresented and is actually much higher or the magazine is never delivered.
- Investment Fraud: You are invited to participate in an investment opportunity and promised spectacular profits with no risk. Instead of making money, you lose it.
- Overpayment scams: You advertise something you want to sell and a potential buyer offers to purchase it. The buyer sends a check for more than the asking price and asks you to wire back the difference. You do, but later the check bounces.
- Work-at-home scams: Advertisements promise big earnings for people who want to work at home. You send a check for training and materials and receive a kit with cheap craft materials and discover there ar no clients to pay for the work.
- Vacation/Travel fraud: You accept an offer for free or very cheep travel package but end up paying hidden costs such a reservation fees or taxes or listening to a high-pressure sales pitch for a timeshare or membership.
- Phishing: You get an email or pop-up message that says your account must be updated immediately or it will be closed. You click on a link to a website that looks like it belongs to your bank or other institution and “update” your account by entering personal identifying information. Soon you discover you are a victim of identity theft.
- Pharming: Also called domain spoofing, this technique is used by criminals to redirect web traffic from legitimate server to their own server, where they can steal any personal information that the user types in. Pharmers “poison” the domain names service in order to fool a user’s browser into linking into a bogus website.
- Nigerian Money Scam: You are contacted by someone from Nigeria and offered millions of dollars if you transfer money from a foreign bank to your bank account for safekeeping. When you agree, you are asked to pay huge transfer fees or legal expenses but receive no money.
- Prize and Sweepstakes scam: You are told that you have won a fabulous prize, but must buy something or pay taxes upfront in order to claim it.
- Foreign Lotteries Scam: You are offered tickets to enter a foreign lottery or send money, but either the lottery doesn’t exist, or the tickets never arrive. It is illegal to promote a foreign lottery by telephone or mail in the United States.
- Pyramids and Multi-Level Marketing: For a fee, you are promised big profits for recruitment of members rather than for selling goods and services. They are illegal and usually collapse.
- Scholarship Scams: A company guarantees scholarship money for an upfront fee, but it only helps locate scholarships rather than awarding them.
- Charity Scams: A natural disaster is dominating the news and you get a letter/email/phone call asking you to donate funds to help its victims. You send money, but the victims never receive your donation or a tiny portion of it-the rest goes to cover administrative costs like salaries.
- Bogus merchandise sales: You purchase something advertised for sale on the internet or through a telemarketing call. You pay for the merchandise, but never receive it or receive an inferior or counterfeit product in its place.
- Telephone Cramming: Unauthorized charges for good or services appear on your phone bill, but you miss seeing them because your phone bill is complicated with authorized charges such as voicemail and internet.
- Telephone Slamming: Your telephone service is switched from your current company to another one without your knowledge or permission, resulting in higher charges for long distance and other services.
- Beware of 900 numbers: Remember, if you call a 900 number to claim a prize, you end up paying for the call. Make sure you understand all charges before making the call.
- Take your time: Don’t let an aggressive con artist pressure you into making a decision. Demand information in writing by mail. Get a second opinion. Ask your family, friends, and neighbors what they think about certain offers.
Identity Theft
- Do not give out personal information: This includes name, address, phone number, social security number, bank information such as checking account numbers and credit card numbers.
- Keep your information private: Don’t write down any of your personal information or credit card slips or checks which could fall into the wrong hands.
- Remove all documents with personal information from your hard drive before discarding your computer or sending it in for repair.
- Shred discarded documents, including pre-approved credit card applications, bank statements, store receipts, and utility bills. “Dumpster drivers” can gain access to your personal information if such items are thrown in the trash.
- Don’t buy anything offering a quick fix: Don’t buy health products or treatments that include a promise for a quick and dramatic cure. Testimonials, imprecise, and nonmedical language appeal to the emotions instead of reason or a single product that cures many ills.
- Look closely at offers that come in the mail: Con artist is often use official looking forms, language, and bold graphics to lure victims. If you receive items in the mail that you didn’t order, you are under no obligation to pay for them. You are free to throw them out, return them, or keep them.
- Cheap home repairs: Beware of offers of cheep home repair work that would otherwise be more expensive. The con artist may only do part of the work, use shoddy materials and untrained workers or simply take your deposit and never return. Never pay with cash. Never accept offers from drive-up workers who “just happen” to be in the neighborhood. If they’re reliable, they’ll come back after you check them out.
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Resources
When in doubt, call 9-1-1 (EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY!!) or your local police department (non-emergency calls).
Call the National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060 or visit their website at http://www.fraud.org for current fraud alerts.
To learn more about preventing identity theft, visit the National Crime Prevention Council’s Web site at http://www.weprevent.organd http://www.ncpc.org.
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