Elder Financial Abuse - Police Department - City of El Cerrito, California

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Elder Financial Abuse

Talk to your elders about avoiding these common scams:

"You are a sweepstakes winner!": Elder receivers a call or letter saying they have just won a big "prize", but must send money first to pay taxes, or fees before the prize can be sent to them.
Fortune-teller or psychic healer: elder’s money or jewelry is "cursed" and must be given to a fortuneteller to remove the "curse." Raw eggs with hair, grapefruits with blood, and knotted threads are used for sleight-of-hand tricks to prove authenticity of the curse.
"I’ll fix your roof cheap": Elder pays cash for shoddy or non-existent work, by door-to-door solicitor with "left-over" materials from a previous job.
"Let’s share this found cash": Stranger approaches elder with offer to share "found" cash. Elder is told to get "good faith" cash of their own, which is stolen by sleight-of-hand trickery.
"Help me donate cash to charity: Crooks smear elder’s parked car with tar while elder is shopping. When elder returns and drives off, suspects follow and accuse elder of hit and run, pointing to tar as evidence of "damage". Suspect accepts cash to refrain from calling "police" on elder.
"Help me collect my lottery winners.": Elder is approached by person claiming to be an "illegal alien" who needs help to redeem their "winning lottery ticket."
Gold bar or diamond scam: Elder is sold fake gold bar or diamond at "discount" by a foreigner needing cash for "family emergency" back home.
Water inspector scam: elder is told to bang on pipes in basement while phony "water inspector" burglarizes the rest of the house.
Bank examiner scam: Elder is asked to help "police" catch a bank thief, by giving cash to the "bank detective" who will use it as bait in a sting operation at the bank.