July 10, 2024 • 17 mins
Scammers are getting craftier, and it's up to us to stay ahead. In this episode, we interview a local older adult who fell victim to a scam by a fake residential repair contractor. Hear her recount her experience and learn how AgeGuide’s funded partners and other community helpers stepped in to help. Plus, get essential tips to protect yourself from fraud.
If you think you have been a victim of a scam, visit our website for more information: https://ageguide.org/fraud-assistance/
Facebook: facebook.com/AgeGuide
Twitter: twitter.com/AgeGuide
Instagram: instagram.com/theageguidepodcast
Podcast: ageguide.org/the-age-guide-podcast
Website: ageguide.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to The Age Guide, Perspectives
on the Aging Journey.
We are here to be your personalguide and enhance your quality
of life on the road ahead.
Welcome to another episode ofAge Guide's special podcast
series celebrating our 50thanniversary.
(00:23):
We're thrilled to have you joinus for this milestone year.
Our theme, The GreatReconnection, highlights the
importance of social connectionsfor older adults, fostering a
sense of community andbelonging.
Scammers are getting craftier,and it's up to us to stay ahead.
In this episode, we share areal-life story of a local
(00:46):
senior who fell victim to a fakeresidential repair contractor.
Listen in as she recounts herexperience, how Age Guide's
funded partners and communityhelpers stepped in, and discover
tips to protect yourself fromfraud.
Let's listen in.
SPEAKER_04 (01:04):
We are here today with someone who has been
through a difficult experiencewith a scam.
And she has agreed to meet withus today in her lovely home to
talk about what that experiencewas like.
So how about if we start withyou sharing a little bit about
yourself and your backgroundbefore the scam
SPEAKER_03 (01:25):
story.
I'm a senior, obviously, and myhusband...
Did a lot of the work around thehouse.
But he passed away.
Just recently, right?
A couple years ago?
August of 2022, I always have tothink of the year.
And I was determined I was goingto continue to do stuff myself.
(01:45):
And then I realized I'm notcapable of everything.
And that's how I got taken,because I was trusting people.
SPEAKER_04 (01:54):
And so you live in your own home, and you live in
an unincorporated area, andyou've got a lot of property
around your house, and you havea large home, a lot to take care
of.
Yes.
So how did you first come intocontact with the home repair
company that scammed you?
I was outside
SPEAKER_03 (02:11):
pulling weeds down this long 200-foot driveway, and
an SUV pulled in, and...
two very nice young men said,gee, it looks like you need some
seal coating done.
And I said, no, I didn't think Ireally was ready to do seal
coating.
And I says, but if you knowsomeone, I could use a handyman.
(02:35):
And they said, what do you needdone?
And I said, well, I have a roomthat I need insulation and
drywall put up in the ceiling.
Well, let us take a look.
And that's where it snowballedfrom there.
SPEAKER_04 (02:49):
Okay.
They just found
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
you and
SPEAKER_04 (02:51):
just pulled up to your yard while you were working
in your yard.
Yes, they did.
They get pretty crafty.
You
SPEAKER_03 (02:58):
know, I had someone, I couldn't understand why
because they really couldn't seeme from the street, but what
made them pull in here?
And I have a sister-in-law whohad an answer for it.
And she says, well, you know,sal's obituary and i said no no
no we did not put his obituaryin the paper he said do not ever
do that
SPEAKER_04 (03:18):
okay people
SPEAKER_03 (03:19):
check people
SPEAKER_04 (03:20):
would
SPEAKER_03 (03:21):
pray on you but it's still on the obituary site
through the funeral parlor.
Oh, right.
And she said she heard of peopleevery day go in and look them
up, and they wait a littlewhile, and then they approach
the people.
SPEAKER_04 (03:36):
Wow.
That's pretty sophisticated, andthat is true.
People will do that kind ofthing when you're down, any time
that they have an angle thatthey can get in.
Oh, yeah.
So did you let them come in andtake a look at
SPEAKER_03 (03:48):
the room?
Oh, they looked at it, and theywere like, oh, we can do this.
And that's where it all started.
SPEAKER_04 (03:54):
Okay.
Oh, wow.
So at what point did you realizethat something was wrong?
I
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
gave them the money, which I should never have done,
ahead of time to go and buy thesupplies and everything.
When I realized this was a totalscam, they called me.
And he said, you know, we have aproblem.
The concrete company...
Because it's summer, they'redoing all the work in Chicago,
(04:25):
so they cannot come out.
I can't get the concrete untilthe end of September or October.
And I said, well, then let'sjust forget about it.
You know, give me my check backfor the concrete.
Yeah.
Now, they still hadn't finishedthe room or anything either, by
the way.
Yeah.
Because there was an excuse forthat.
Were they
SPEAKER_04 (04:44):
doing a little work here?
Were they coming regularly?
Were you seeing them at all?
SPEAKER_03 (04:49):
You know, yes, I would see them, but they didn't
do the work.
SPEAKER_04 (04:52):
Okay.
So they were really trying toingratiate themselves and be
really nice and kind andbefriend you.
And that's really seems like agood thing when you're newly
widowed and you're trying tofigure things out and you meet
some new friends who can bereally helpful.
And it's really easy to...
SPEAKER_03 (05:11):
Yeah, you know, in your determined to be able to do
things and have things done.
You want to be able to take careof your house yourself.
Yeah, exactly.
Sure.
When I realized this was a totalscam, when he was telling me
about the concrete work, I said,well, give me the money back.
(05:33):
And he goes, well, I alreadygave it to the concrete company.
I'm thinking.
He said, but if you can give meanother check...
I can have it delivered sooner.
And that's when I was like,uh-oh.
That doesn't sound right.
Yeah.
So
SPEAKER_04 (05:49):
then what did you do?
I called senior services.
And you asked them for help?
I did.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (05:57):
I was so angry.
Oh, I bet.
The man who runs the programfrom Milton Township, it's a
SALT program.
The SALT program.
And it's wonderful.
He came over and he took...
whole history he was okay downand then he called a deputy um
(06:19):
county deputy to come over
SPEAKER_04 (06:21):
sheriff
SPEAKER_03 (06:21):
because i'm unincorporated i'm not
SPEAKER_04 (06:24):
right right so the sheriff
SPEAKER_03 (06:26):
covers this area so one came over and then he i had
to repeat it over again tellyour story everything down okay
um Then another police officercame, and I'm glad for her.
She took a walk around myproperty.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
She
SPEAKER_03 (06:43):
said, as a woman, she knew what to look for.
Oh, okay.
And I'm like, okay.
And she said, well, I'm asheriff's deputy, and I do carry
a gun.
But I'm still vulnerable.
SPEAKER_04 (06:57):
Right, we
SPEAKER_03 (06:57):
all are.
As a woman.
And I think, wow, I neverthought of it that way.
So she looked around to see whatI should be doing.
Like, I'm supposed to be puttingin a ring doorbell.
SPEAKER_04 (07:07):
Okay, yeah.
I just haven't done it
SPEAKER_03 (07:08):
yet.
SPEAKER_04 (07:08):
Okay.
That's a good idea.
Other safety features that youcould do.
Right, because I'm so far back.
Right.
Yeah, and you're living herealone.
So you've got some ideas ofthings that you can do to
improve the safety of your home.
SPEAKER_03 (07:21):
And that was helpful.
So she did that, and...
I'm trying to think.
The deputy that was assigned tomy case.
SPEAKER_04 (07:29):
So you had a phone number for these people, right?
Because you were talking to
SPEAKER_03 (07:32):
them on the phone.
Okay.
And I turned it and any emails Ihad gotten or messages from
them, I turned that all over tothe state's attorney's
SPEAKER_04 (07:40):
office.
Okay.
And were they able to get yourmoney back for you
SPEAKER_03 (07:44):
or do anything for you?
Not yet.
You're still in process.
There's an arrest warrant outfor the two men.
SPEAKER_04 (07:49):
Okay.
And this is the first timethey've
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
done this.
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (07:53):
So they've been scamming people all over.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I guess, well, as Isaid, this is not going to make
me not trust people.
I can't be like that.
SPEAKER_04 (08:04):
Good.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
but it's sad that people have to stoop to this.
SPEAKER_04 (08:08):
Right.
Yeah.
That's unfortunate that there'sthese people out there that
would take advantage of someoneand it can happen to anyone no
matter what age you are.
But I think it's harder when weget to retirement and we're on a
fixed income and you know,you're trying to live
independently as long as you canoff of the resources that you
have.
So it becomes more of achallenge if you get involved
(08:31):
with a scam like this.
So that's why it's so hard.
Um, What have been some of thebiggest challenges that you
faced in dealing with the factthat this situation happened?
SPEAKER_03 (08:44):
Well, first I was very embarrassed.
SPEAKER_04 (08:47):
Yeah, there's like an emotional
SPEAKER_03 (08:49):
side to it, right?
I was like, oh, people are goingto think I'm so stupid.
I just never...
Dealing with these two people,they're good.
Right.
They're very good at what theydo.
These are con artists, yes.
And what bothered me the mostwas about religion.
(09:11):
They're smart.
And the one guy, I was sittingon the front porch when they
were going back and forth.
Right.
And I was sitting there readingmy Bible because I...
I'm very religious.
SPEAKER_04 (09:26):
Okay.
And they saw that?
They
SPEAKER_03 (09:28):
did.
So
SPEAKER_04 (09:28):
they took that angle and
SPEAKER_03 (09:30):
I bet they used that against you, didn't they?
They said, oh, are you aChristian?
I said, yes, I am.
So they had a whole story to go
SPEAKER_04 (09:37):
with
SPEAKER_03 (09:38):
it.
And then the one start, heactually quoted scripture.
SPEAKER_04 (09:42):
Right.
He knows that that's a way toget at people.
These scam artists are so goodat the things that they can do.
And yeah, you can't beatyourself up about that.
You know what?
I find
SPEAKER_03 (09:54):
myself...
I do volunteer work, as
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
I said.
SPEAKER_03 (09:58):
I'll talk about it if somebody...
SPEAKER_04 (10:02):
Good.
So you can share your story to
SPEAKER_03 (10:05):
help other people.
And I've had a few women whowere like, oh my gosh, I live by
myself.
And they're all like...
SPEAKER_04 (10:14):
This could easily happen to any of us.
Yes.
Even younger people who don'tlive by themselves get taken for
scams.
I mean, it happens to everybody.
Yes, they do.
Yes.
But like I said, it's harderwhen you're retired and you're
living by yourself.
Oh, it's really, yeah.
Yeah.
The results can be damaging.
SPEAKER_03 (10:33):
You feel so vulnerable.
Yeah.
Yeah.
like I said I was a littlefrustrated but I was scared
because they knew where I lived
SPEAKER_04 (10:45):
there's that angle of it too and you don't know
what else they're capable of ifthey're capable of taking your
money what else are they capableof but luckily you've got the
sheriff watching out for youyou've got some things you're
going to do to improve thesafety of your house so what
kind of advice would you give toother people you said you share
your story with others and Ithink that's so impactful when
you can tell other people whathappened right and It's helpful
(11:07):
for you to process through it,but it's also helpful for the
other person.
It is.
What do you tell them?
SPEAKER_03 (11:14):
Well, actually, I've told one lady who had somebody
come to her door.
SPEAKER_04 (11:17):
Okay, she had a similar approach happen?
SPEAKER_03 (11:21):
But she lived in Wheaton.
Okay.
I don't know if it's the samepeople.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (11:26):
Yeah, who knows?
But
SPEAKER_03 (11:28):
she said she was going to put outside
surveillance.
SPEAKER_04 (11:32):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (11:32):
Because she was...
a lot older than me, and shedidn't have any family.
SPEAKER_04 (11:37):
Okay.
So she was going to take that.
Okay, so you gave somesuggestions for how she could
save...
And I told
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
her,
SPEAKER_04 (11:44):
you know,
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
don't stop trusting people.
SPEAKER_04 (11:47):
You still have to be able to depend on your
community.
You have to be able to haveother people help with things.
You just have to be safe aboutit.
And now you know that there'ssome questions you can ask,
right?
You know not to write a bigcheck up up front.
And you know that you can alwaysrun things by either the Milton
Township SALT folks or seniorservices associates or the
(12:12):
sheriff or police department.
So that's good advice forpeople, too.
Just check it out first, right?
You've got people who aredepending on you and waiting for
you.
And you've got people you cantalk to about these things, too.
If somebody comes to yourdriveway again, you could say,
hey, what do you think of this?
Somebody showed up today.
They're offering to do X, Y, Z.
It's helpful to have thosepeople
SPEAKER_03 (12:32):
in your life.
And I heard of a story fromsomeone I've known since I
started volunteering.
We volunteer together onFridays.
SPEAKER_02 (12:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:41):
And she goes, oh, my gosh.
She had somebody come to herhouse after a bad storm.
Yeah.
And they left a brochure.
Right.
And she was looking.
she realized the pictures theysaid they took weren't her roof.
SPEAKER_04 (12:58):
Oh, it wasn't even her house.
Wow.
Yeah, because there are peoplewho do that.
After a storm, they'll come outand legitimately work with your
insurance and do some homerepairs.
But you just don't know if youtake the first person who comes
to your door.
You really have to check themout and do your research.
There's legitimate businessesthat do drive around and look
for opportunities, and themarket is tight right now, and
(13:21):
people are having troublefinding jobs, so they're going
around looking but there arethose scammers out there too and
we have a lot of funded partnersthat we support at age guide
around our eight county regionthen they can help with these
kind of situations too or directyou to the right places so i
think some older adults mightfeel more comfortable calling up
a social service type agency andasking for help and some people
(13:44):
are afraid should i call is thissomething worthy of calling the
police to check on or it'salways fine to call age guide or
to call one of our fundedpartners like you said senior
service associates was yourfirst stop and i think that's a
comfortable spot for people togo
SPEAKER_03 (13:58):
i'll tell you why i thought of that though um before
i got married i was living inbloomingdale township and i
worked for the township okay AndI worked for, I was assistant
director of the BloomingdaleTownship Senior Citizens.
Oh, okay.
And all of a sudden, I'm one ofthem.
(14:21):
What do you know?
I would have told my seniors,no, no, don't fall for this,
don't fall for that.
And maybe that's why I was alittle embarrassed.
And I didn't think of it untiljust now.
Yes.
I used to advise them what to doand not to do.
And he...
I didn't have anybody to adviseme.
That's right, and that's why youneed to have those connections.
(14:42):
You
SPEAKER_04 (14:43):
forgot to take care of yourself, and you need to
reach out to others, and it'sokay to ask other people what
they think of a situation.
So good for you.
You're continuing to learn fromthis all the time, and I'm so
sorry that this happened, and Ireally hope that it gets
resolved for you.
But thank you so much forsharing your story.
SPEAKER_02 (15:00):
You're welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Thank you so much for listening.
Before we go, we have a quickword from Age Guide featuring
the Medicare Minute.
Hello and welcome to yourMedicare Minute.
We are here with Val Guzman, ourbenefit access specialist here
at Age Guide.
SPEAKER_00 (15:17):
Medicare fraud and scams are a huge issue where
over$60 billion is lost everyyear.
It's important to treat yourMedicare number in the same way
that you would your socialsecurity number or credit cards.
You should only share yourMedicare number with your doctor
and never over the phone.
(15:38):
Check your Medicare statementsand look out for any claims that
you don't recognize or that yoususpect could be wrong.
And when you do suspectsomething wrong, make sure you
report it right away.
You can report potentialMedicare fraud to the Senior
Medicare Patrol program.
For more information about theSMP program, you can visit our
(16:00):
fraud assistance page onageguide.org, or you can call
Age Guide at 800-528-7000.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
you for listening to The Age Guide, Perspectives on
the Aging Journey.
We hope you learned somethingnew on this podcast because we
all have a stake in promoting ahigh quality of life for people
on their aging journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
We serve DuPage, Grundy, Kane,Kankakee, Kendall, Lake,
(16:35):
McHenry, and Will Counties.
We also serve Our speciallytrained professionals are
available to answer questionsand connect you with local
service providers and resources.
If you are interested in theseservices or want to learn more,
go to our website at hguide.org.
Call our offices at630-293-5990.
(16:58):
Please follow our podcast sowhen we post our monthly
podcast, you are notified onyour streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time On the Age Guide,
perspectives on the agingjourney.
Hello, and welcome to The Age Guide, Perspectives
on the Aging Journey.
We are here to be your personalguide and enhance your quality
of life on the road ahead.
Welcome to another episode ofAge Guide's special podcast
series celebrating our 50thanniversary.
(00:23):
We're thrilled to have you joinus for this milestone year.
Our theme, The GreatReconnection, highlights the
importance of social connectionsfor older adults, fostering a
sense of community andbelonging.
Scammers are getting craftier,and it's up to us to stay ahead.
In this episode, we share areal-life story of a local
(00:46):
senior who fell victim to a fakeresidential repair contractor.
Listen in as she recounts herexperience, how Age Guide's
funded partners and communityhelpers stepped in, and discover
tips to protect yourself fromfraud.
Let's listen in.
SPEAKER_04 (01:04):
We are here today with someone who has been
through a difficult experiencewith a scam.
And she has agreed to meet withus today in her lovely home to
talk about what that experiencewas like.
So how about if we start withyou sharing a little bit about
yourself and your backgroundbefore the scam
SPEAKER_03 (01:25):
story.
I'm a senior, obviously, and myhusband...
Did a lot of the work around thehouse.
But he passed away.
Just recently, right?
A couple years ago?
August of 2022, I always have tothink of the year.
And I was determined I was goingto continue to do stuff myself.
(01:45):
And then I realized I'm notcapable of everything.
And that's how I got taken,because I was trusting people.
SPEAKER_04 (01:54):
And so you live in your own home, and you live in
an unincorporated area, andyou've got a lot of property
around your house, and you havea large home, a lot to take care
of.
Yes.
So how did you first come intocontact with the home repair
company that scammed you?
I was outside
SPEAKER_03 (02:11):
pulling weeds down this long 200-foot driveway, and
an SUV pulled in, and...
two very nice young men said,gee, it looks like you need some
seal coating done.
And I said, no, I didn't think Ireally was ready to do seal
coating.
And I says, but if you knowsomeone, I could use a handyman.
(02:35):
And they said, what do you needdone?
And I said, well, I have a roomthat I need insulation and
drywall put up in the ceiling.
Well, let us take a look.
And that's where it snowballedfrom there.
SPEAKER_04 (02:49):
Okay.
They just found
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
you and
SPEAKER_04 (02:51):
just pulled up to your yard while you were working
in your yard.
Yes, they did.
They get pretty crafty.
You
SPEAKER_03 (02:58):
know, I had someone, I couldn't understand why
because they really couldn't seeme from the street, but what
made them pull in here?
And I have a sister-in-law whohad an answer for it.
And she says, well, you know,sal's obituary and i said no no
no we did not put his obituaryin the paper he said do not ever
do that
SPEAKER_04 (03:18):
okay people
SPEAKER_03 (03:19):
check people
SPEAKER_04 (03:20):
would
SPEAKER_03 (03:21):
pray on you but it's still on the obituary site
through the funeral parlor.
Oh, right.
And she said she heard of peopleevery day go in and look them
up, and they wait a littlewhile, and then they approach
the people.
SPEAKER_04 (03:36):
Wow.
That's pretty sophisticated, andthat is true.
People will do that kind ofthing when you're down, any time
that they have an angle thatthey can get in.
Oh, yeah.
So did you let them come in andtake a look at
SPEAKER_03 (03:48):
the room?
Oh, they looked at it, and theywere like, oh, we can do this.
And that's where it all started.
SPEAKER_04 (03:54):
Okay.
Oh, wow.
So at what point did you realizethat something was wrong?
I
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
gave them the money, which I should never have done,
ahead of time to go and buy thesupplies and everything.
When I realized this was a totalscam, they called me.
And he said, you know, we have aproblem.
The concrete company...
Because it's summer, they'redoing all the work in Chicago,
(04:25):
so they cannot come out.
I can't get the concrete untilthe end of September or October.
And I said, well, then let'sjust forget about it.
You know, give me my check backfor the concrete.
Yeah.
Now, they still hadn't finishedthe room or anything either, by
the way.
Yeah.
Because there was an excuse forthat.
Were they
SPEAKER_04 (04:44):
doing a little work here?
Were they coming regularly?
Were you seeing them at all?
SPEAKER_03 (04:49):
You know, yes, I would see them, but they didn't
do the work.
SPEAKER_04 (04:52):
Okay.
So they were really trying toingratiate themselves and be
really nice and kind andbefriend you.
And that's really seems like agood thing when you're newly
widowed and you're trying tofigure things out and you meet
some new friends who can bereally helpful.
And it's really easy to...
SPEAKER_03 (05:11):
Yeah, you know, in your determined to be able to do
things and have things done.
You want to be able to take careof your house yourself.
Yeah, exactly.
Sure.
When I realized this was a totalscam, when he was telling me
about the concrete work, I said,well, give me the money back.
(05:33):
And he goes, well, I alreadygave it to the concrete company.
I'm thinking.
He said, but if you can give meanother check...
I can have it delivered sooner.
And that's when I was like,uh-oh.
That doesn't sound right.
Yeah.
So
SPEAKER_04 (05:49):
then what did you do?
I called senior services.
And you asked them for help?
I did.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (05:57):
I was so angry.
Oh, I bet.
The man who runs the programfrom Milton Township, it's a
SALT program.
The SALT program.
And it's wonderful.
He came over and he took...
whole history he was okay downand then he called a deputy um
(06:19):
county deputy to come over
SPEAKER_04 (06:21):
sheriff
SPEAKER_03 (06:21):
because i'm unincorporated i'm not
SPEAKER_04 (06:24):
right right so the sheriff
SPEAKER_03 (06:26):
covers this area so one came over and then he i had
to repeat it over again tellyour story everything down okay
um Then another police officercame, and I'm glad for her.
She took a walk around myproperty.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
She
SPEAKER_03 (06:43):
said, as a woman, she knew what to look for.
Oh, okay.
And I'm like, okay.
And she said, well, I'm asheriff's deputy, and I do carry
a gun.
But I'm still vulnerable.
SPEAKER_04 (06:57):
Right, we
SPEAKER_03 (06:57):
all are.
As a woman.
And I think, wow, I neverthought of it that way.
So she looked around to see whatI should be doing.
Like, I'm supposed to be puttingin a ring doorbell.
SPEAKER_04 (07:07):
Okay, yeah.
I just haven't done it
SPEAKER_03 (07:08):
yet.
SPEAKER_04 (07:08):
Okay.
That's a good idea.
Other safety features that youcould do.
Right, because I'm so far back.
Right.
Yeah, and you're living herealone.
So you've got some ideas ofthings that you can do to
improve the safety of your home.
SPEAKER_03 (07:21):
And that was helpful.
So she did that, and...
I'm trying to think.
The deputy that was assigned tomy case.
SPEAKER_04 (07:29):
So you had a phone number for these people, right?
Because you were talking to
SPEAKER_03 (07:32):
them on the phone.
Okay.
And I turned it and any emails Ihad gotten or messages from
them, I turned that all over tothe state's attorney's
SPEAKER_04 (07:40):
office.
Okay.
And were they able to get yourmoney back for you
SPEAKER_03 (07:44):
or do anything for you?
Not yet.
You're still in process.
There's an arrest warrant outfor the two men.
SPEAKER_04 (07:49):
Okay.
And this is the first timethey've
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
done this.
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (07:53):
So they've been scamming people all over.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I guess, well, as Isaid, this is not going to make
me not trust people.
I can't be like that.
SPEAKER_04 (08:04):
Good.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
but it's sad that people have to stoop to this.
SPEAKER_04 (08:08):
Right.
Yeah.
That's unfortunate that there'sthese people out there that
would take advantage of someoneand it can happen to anyone no
matter what age you are.
But I think it's harder when weget to retirement and we're on a
fixed income and you know,you're trying to live
independently as long as you canoff of the resources that you
have.
So it becomes more of achallenge if you get involved
(08:31):
with a scam like this.
So that's why it's so hard.
Um, What have been some of thebiggest challenges that you
faced in dealing with the factthat this situation happened?
SPEAKER_03 (08:44):
Well, first I was very embarrassed.
SPEAKER_04 (08:47):
Yeah, there's like an emotional
SPEAKER_03 (08:49):
side to it, right?
I was like, oh, people are goingto think I'm so stupid.
I just never...
Dealing with these two people,they're good.
Right.
They're very good at what theydo.
These are con artists, yes.
And what bothered me the mostwas about religion.
(09:11):
They're smart.
And the one guy, I was sittingon the front porch when they
were going back and forth.
Right.
And I was sitting there readingmy Bible because I...
I'm very religious.
SPEAKER_04 (09:26):
Okay.
And they saw that?
They
SPEAKER_03 (09:28):
did.
So
SPEAKER_04 (09:28):
they took that angle and
SPEAKER_03 (09:30):
I bet they used that against you, didn't they?
They said, oh, are you aChristian?
I said, yes, I am.
So they had a whole story to go
SPEAKER_04 (09:37):
with
SPEAKER_03 (09:38):
it.
And then the one start, heactually quoted scripture.
SPEAKER_04 (09:42):
Right.
He knows that that's a way toget at people.
These scam artists are so goodat the things that they can do.
And yeah, you can't beatyourself up about that.
You know what?
I find
SPEAKER_03 (09:54):
myself...
I do volunteer work, as
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
I said.
SPEAKER_03 (09:58):
I'll talk about it if somebody...
SPEAKER_04 (10:02):
Good.
So you can share your story to
SPEAKER_03 (10:05):
help other people.
And I've had a few women whowere like, oh my gosh, I live by
myself.
And they're all like...
SPEAKER_04 (10:14):
This could easily happen to any of us.
Yes.
Even younger people who don'tlive by themselves get taken for
scams.
I mean, it happens to everybody.
Yes, they do.
Yes.
But like I said, it's harderwhen you're retired and you're
living by yourself.
Oh, it's really, yeah.
Yeah.
The results can be damaging.
SPEAKER_03 (10:33):
You feel so vulnerable.
Yeah.
Yeah.
like I said I was a littlefrustrated but I was scared
because they knew where I lived
SPEAKER_04 (10:45):
there's that angle of it too and you don't know
what else they're capable of ifthey're capable of taking your
money what else are they capableof but luckily you've got the
sheriff watching out for youyou've got some things you're
going to do to improve thesafety of your house so what
kind of advice would you give toother people you said you share
your story with others and Ithink that's so impactful when
you can tell other people whathappened right and It's helpful
(11:07):
for you to process through it,but it's also helpful for the
other person.
It is.
What do you tell them?
SPEAKER_03 (11:14):
Well, actually, I've told one lady who had somebody
come to her door.
SPEAKER_04 (11:17):
Okay, she had a similar approach happen?
SPEAKER_03 (11:21):
But she lived in Wheaton.
Okay.
I don't know if it's the samepeople.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (11:26):
Yeah, who knows?
But
SPEAKER_03 (11:28):
she said she was going to put outside
surveillance.
SPEAKER_04 (11:32):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (11:32):
Because she was...
a lot older than me, and shedidn't have any family.
SPEAKER_04 (11:37):
Okay.
So she was going to take that.
Okay, so you gave somesuggestions for how she could
save...
And I told
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
her,
SPEAKER_04 (11:44):
you know,
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
don't stop trusting people.
SPEAKER_04 (11:47):
You still have to be able to depend on your
community.
You have to be able to haveother people help with things.
You just have to be safe aboutit.
And now you know that there'ssome questions you can ask,
right?
You know not to write a bigcheck up up front.
And you know that you can alwaysrun things by either the Milton
Township SALT folks or seniorservices associates or the
(12:12):
sheriff or police department.
So that's good advice forpeople, too.
Just check it out first, right?
You've got people who aredepending on you and waiting for
you.
And you've got people you cantalk to about these things, too.
If somebody comes to yourdriveway again, you could say,
hey, what do you think of this?
Somebody showed up today.
They're offering to do X, Y, Z.
It's helpful to have thosepeople
SPEAKER_03 (12:32):
in your life.
And I heard of a story fromsomeone I've known since I
started volunteering.
We volunteer together onFridays.
SPEAKER_02 (12:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:41):
And she goes, oh, my gosh.
She had somebody come to herhouse after a bad storm.
Yeah.
And they left a brochure.
Right.
And she was looking.
she realized the pictures theysaid they took weren't her roof.
SPEAKER_04 (12:58):
Oh, it wasn't even her house.
Wow.
Yeah, because there are peoplewho do that.
After a storm, they'll come outand legitimately work with your
insurance and do some homerepairs.
But you just don't know if youtake the first person who comes
to your door.
You really have to check themout and do your research.
There's legitimate businessesthat do drive around and look
for opportunities, and themarket is tight right now, and
(13:21):
people are having troublefinding jobs, so they're going
around looking but there arethose scammers out there too and
we have a lot of funded partnersthat we support at age guide
around our eight county regionthen they can help with these
kind of situations too or directyou to the right places so i
think some older adults mightfeel more comfortable calling up
a social service type agency andasking for help and some people
(13:44):
are afraid should i call is thissomething worthy of calling the
police to check on or it'salways fine to call age guide or
to call one of our fundedpartners like you said senior
service associates was yourfirst stop and i think that's a
comfortable spot for people togo
SPEAKER_03 (13:58):
i'll tell you why i thought of that though um before
i got married i was living inbloomingdale township and i
worked for the township okay AndI worked for, I was assistant
director of the BloomingdaleTownship Senior Citizens.
Oh, okay.
And all of a sudden, I'm one ofthem.
(14:21):
What do you know?
I would have told my seniors,no, no, don't fall for this,
don't fall for that.
And maybe that's why I was alittle embarrassed.
And I didn't think of it untiljust now.
Yes.
I used to advise them what to doand not to do.
And he...
I didn't have anybody to adviseme.
That's right, and that's why youneed to have those connections.
(14:42):
You
SPEAKER_04 (14:43):
forgot to take care of yourself, and you need to
reach out to others, and it'sokay to ask other people what
they think of a situation.
So good for you.
You're continuing to learn fromthis all the time, and I'm so
sorry that this happened, and Ireally hope that it gets
resolved for you.
But thank you so much forsharing your story.
SPEAKER_02 (15:00):
You're welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Thank you so much for listening.
Before we go, we have a quickword from Age Guide featuring
the Medicare Minute.
Hello and welcome to yourMedicare Minute.
We are here with Val Guzman, ourbenefit access specialist here
at Age Guide.
SPEAKER_00 (15:17):
Medicare fraud and scams are a huge issue where
over$60 billion is lost everyyear.
It's important to treat yourMedicare number in the same way
that you would your socialsecurity number or credit cards.
You should only share yourMedicare number with your doctor
and never over the phone.
(15:38):
Check your Medicare statementsand look out for any claims that
you don't recognize or that yoususpect could be wrong.
And when you do suspectsomething wrong, make sure you
report it right away.
You can report potentialMedicare fraud to the Senior
Medicare Patrol program.
For more information about theSMP program, you can visit our
(16:00):
fraud assistance page onageguide.org, or you can call
Age Guide at 800-528-7000.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
you for listening to The Age Guide, Perspectives on
the Aging Journey.
We hope you learned somethingnew on this podcast because we
all have a stake in promoting ahigh quality of life for people
on their aging journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
We serve DuPage, Grundy, Kane,Kankakee, Kendall, Lake,
(16:35):
McHenry, and Will Counties.
We also serve Our speciallytrained professionals are
available to answer questionsand connect you with local
service providers and resources.
If you are interested in theseservices or want to learn more,
go to our website at hguide.org.
Call our offices at630-293-5990.
(16:58):
Please follow our podcast sowhen we post our monthly
podcast, you are notified onyour streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time On the Age Guide,
perspectives on the agingjourney.
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