Not every stranger you encounter is a criminal, but criminals will look for easy opportunities to get something of value. If someone offers a deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Yet every day people get taken in by different schemes. Con artists defraud and cheat unsuspecting citizens out of several billion dollars each year. The swindler's prime target is the senior citizen.
Swindlers see the elderly as easy marks for many reasons.
Many senior citizens live on social security and pensions supplemented by savings. They may be looking for ways to increase their incomes through investments, home business opportunities, or retirement properties. Swindlers are usually well-dressed, talkative and intelligent. After all, they are trying to win your confidence. A telephone caller will identify himself as a bank examiner who is trying to weed out a disloyal employee by getting you to withdraw money from your bank account and turn it over to them.