If you're age 60 or older, you may be a special target for people who sell bogus products and services by phone. It's easy enough to fall prey to their sales pitch.
Telemarketing fraud is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States.
Every year, thousands of consumers lose from a few dollars to their life savings to telephone con artists. How Older People Become Victims of Telemarketing Fraud Fraudulent telemarketers try to take advantage of older people on the theory that they may be more trusting and polite toward strangers. Older women living alone are special targets of these scam artists. Often it's hard to know whether a sales call is legitimate. Sometimes telephone con artists reach you when you're feeling lonely.