To the editor:
I have been plagued by four to five “robo” calls per day relating to a supposed Medicare benefit. These persistent calls prey on the vulnerability and gullibility of senior women perpetrated by cheats who want to line their own pockets. Unfortunately, they are all around us… even among people we know. Trying to block the calls has not worked!
This is not new… my mother and my aunt were both caught up in scams. My mother was bilked by a former business colleague who flattered her, told a tale of woe, preyed on her sympathy, and managed to extract almost half a million dollars before our family discovered what was happening (he was convicted and went to jail). My Aunt Min had two charming men who lived in her apartment building with her and eyed valuable paintings by her father, a noted artist in Washington, D.C. They flattered her and flirted with her… she was susceptible. The family caught the scam in time, stepped in, and saved the paintings she owned that they wanted.
The scam artists know who you are… perhaps an older woman with wealth and position, or elderly, or living on your own!
We don’t all have family to intervene. Be aware, think twice… if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Olga Weiss
Lenox
Click here to read The Berkshire Edge’s policy for submitting Letters to the Editor.
