Senior Internet Scams

Senior citizens are major targets for scams. These scams involve trying to separate you from your money, and identity theft, where the scammer can clean out your bank and retirement accounts. The Internet makes it easier for scammers, and you have to be constantly alert. Knowledge and vigilance are the major defenses. For knowledge, the #1 website about scams is ScamBusters.org. I highly recommend that you visit it often, or better yet, subscribe to their newsletter. If you search for for seniors on their page you will get about a dozen articles on scams directed at seniors. Worth reading.

Major defenses against Internet scams are:

• Don't open attachments unless you know who they are from
• Don't part with your money unless you are positive you will not be scammed
• Don't give your personal information to anyone over the Internet

Scambusters will provide the knowledge, you have to provide the vigilance.

Exorbitant prices for website design, hosting, and Internet based get-rich-quick schemes are another kind of scam. I've seen enough of this to turn my stomach. The scenario is this. A small business owner (senior or not) wants to establish a web presence, but they know nothing about it. In trying to find some who does and will help them, they seek out a website designer. Sometimes they are lucky. But too many times they hook up with a scammer. The scammer sells them a website costing between $1,000 and $10,000 dollars which does not accomplish the desired purpose. And that is just the tip of the iceberg in their tool kit of separating you from your money. Money thrown away. If you are serious about an on-line business and are willing to spend time in making it a success, your yearly costs should not exceed $300 to $400 a year. If you have some one do part of the work, you should not be paying them more than $25 to $50 an hour. The cost to you for a good website going this way should not exceed about $500 a year. There are exceptions, but get very suspicious if these cost guidelines are exceeded. You may be buying glitter, not success. And if it sounds too good to be true (unlimited pages, unlimited bandwidth, etc.) for the money -- it probably is.