Older Americans are disproportionately impacted by scams and fraud, according to FBI’s annual Elder Fraud Report published in April.
Over 100,000 victims over 60 years old reported fraud to the FBI’s cyber crime hub in 2023. The issue is felt strongly in Leelanau County, which has one of the oldest populations in the country.
As the county’s chief assistant prosecutor, Tristan Chamberlain has seen a fair amount of fraud cases. He’s presented information on specific types of scams to residents in the past, drawing on his legal expertise. Chamberlain recently offered some scam prevention and remediation tips to the newspaper.
According to Chamberlain, everyone reading this newspaper either knows someone who has had their identity stolen or fallen for a scam, or they have been a victim of fraud themselves. He says that although these crimes are committed often, many victims feel too embarrassed to talk about it.
Chamberlain thinks scammers rely on this sense of shame to be successful. He says that if fraud is reported early enough, even shortly after it’s been committed, law enforcement can step in and stop the transaction of tens of thousands of dollars. He recommends telling someone immediately if you’ve been scammed – whether that person is a police officer, a family member, or a trusted friend.
“The primary thing that people prey on is embarrassment,” Chamberlain explained. “They want their victim to feel embarrassed, so they won’t reach out for help. The fraud industry is so huge, people don’t understand that everyone can be a victim. Everyone can fall prey to scams. If you fall victim to a scam, the first thing you should do is tell someone. The faster you tell someone, the faster you get help.”
To prevent fraud from happening in the first place, Chamberlain repeats the adage “if it’s too good to be true, it isn’t.” He says that if someone promises a large amount of money – whether they claim to be a Nigerian prince, a representative of recently-deceased distant relative, or Publisher’s Clearing House – there’s likely a problem.
When uncertain if something is a scam, Chamberlain once again recommends that people go to a friend or a relative for a second opinion before they risk taking the bait. Other scams that are particularly relevant in demographically older communities involve embezzlement by caregivers and fake wills. Unlike the fraud attempts discussed above, Chamberlain says these crimes are often committed by people the victims know, like their friends or family members.
There are often cases where someone taking care of an elderly person feels they are owed funds, withdrawing the money directly from the person’s account. To prevent that kind of fraud, Chamberlain says, another family member or close friend should control their purse strings, not the primary caregiver.
Many dubious wills also get filed in a person’s final days that seem to sign property over to someone else. “They look shady and a lot of times, they are shady,” Chamberlain says. When it comes time to write wills, he recommends getting other people involved when possible. And like embezzlement cases, Chamberlain says he’s wary about the only other person involved being the caregiver.
Another type of scam that can affect all county residents is deed fraud. Over the last two years, there have been multiple attempts by criminals to sell property that they don’t own, often while the landowner is out of town. So far, scams reported in Leelanau County have only targeted vacant lots, but elsewhere in northern Michigan, they’ve been known to attempt to list seasonal residences while the owners are away.
Property records are collected on a database on the Leelanau County government website. On this site, property owners can subscribe to receive “fraud guard alerts” for free. Once a property owner signs up for this service, they receive automated email alerts any time a document is recorded in the register of deeds office using their name.
