Reply #12: Scam 2 is relatively easy to see, because older people believe whatever's in the mail -

[dustbunnie]

or looks "official" is somehow always above board. It's a relic of the near distant past and is probably partially due to depression era hopes and dreams for a better life. Lots of seniors now use the internet and aren't so savvy, believing the emails they get are under the same obligation to be legal as their "snail mail."

My concern is not so much that my growing older dad will be caught up in such a scheme. He's pretty good about that. It's that the elderly seek out their own on chat or news groups, and these are rife with right-wingers. I've heard my dad, always a staunch liberal, say things lately that have made me question what sites he's visiting. He seems to be ashamed when I call him on it, but still, I know he's going to these sites for companionship and it's rubbing off. My mom passed a few years ago. She even warned me before she left us, that he was spending too much time on the net. I think that's the case for many older seniors.