How to Get off the Sucker's List
In an interesting article about sucker lists, Charles Duhigg, writes in the New York Times about Bilking the Elderly, With a Corporate Assist.
"Telemarketing fraud, once limited to small-time thieves, has become a global criminal enterprise preying upon millions of elderly and other Americans every year, authorities say. Vast databases of names and personal information, sold to thieves by large publicly traded companies, have put almost anyone within reach of fraudulent telemarketers. And major banks have made it possible for criminals to dip into victims’ accounts without their authorization, according to court records.
The banks and companies that sell such services often confront evidence that they are used for fraud, according to thousands of banking documents, court filings and e-mail messages reviewed by The New York Times.
Although some companies, including Wachovia, have made refunds to victims who have complained, neither that bank nor infoUSA stopped working with criminals even after executives were warned that they were aiding continuing crimes, according to government investigators. Instead, those companies collected millions of dollars in fees from scam artists. (Neither company has been formally accused of wrongdoing by the authorities.)
'Only one kind of customer wants to buy lists of seniors interested in lotteries and sweepstakes: criminals,' said Sgt. Yves Leblanc of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “If someone advertises a list by saying it contains gullible or elderly people, it’s like putting out a sign saying ‘Thieves welcome here."
I have previously explained that there is simple way to avoid telemarketing fraud: buy a answering machine, and don't respond to telemarketing calls. (My parents hate my solution as they live in a foreign country and aren't that keen on speaking to our answering machine for ten to twenty seconds. Pshaw.)
But would the answering machine solution have worked in this case that Charles Duhigg reported on? Let's read on.
"Investigators suspect that Mr. Guthrie’s name first appeared on a list used by scam artists around 2002, after he filled out a few contest entries that asked about his buying habits and other personal information.
He had lived alone since his wife died. Five of his eight children had moved away from the farm. Mr. Guthrie survived on roughly $800 that he received from Social Security each month. Because painful arthritis kept him home, he spent many mornings organizing the mail, filling out sweepstakes entries and listening to big-band albums as he chatted with telemarketers.
“I really enjoyed those calls,” Mr. Guthrie said. “One gal in particular loved to hear stories about when I was younger.”
Mr. Guthrie lived alone and looked forward to telephone calls, and so the answering machine solution might have only forestalled the inevitable telephone contact. Once the con criminals get you on the telephone line, their superior psychological insights will keep you talking, digging yourself a financial grave. This is why I always recommend not answering the telephone at home --you wouldn't keep the keys of your car, or your home in the door, so why open your mind to con criminals by answering the phone. If it is somebody that you want to talk with, they will leave a message. But 95% of telemarketers will simply hang up and move on to easier prey.
So how do you get off the sucker's list - don't respond to sucker calls.
