Winter scams to know and avoid

Senior citizens are so often the victims of scam artists that come to the door or call over the phone with offers that are just too good to be true. Unfortunately, many elderly people are so hungry for attention or somebody to just talk to, they are often too eager to chat with the person angling to bilk them.

Help protect the seniors in your family - and your neighborhood. If you have elderly relatives or neighbors, why not print this out and drop it off with them, with a plate of warm cookies. Let them know somebody in the neighborhood cares.

Then offer to find them a reliable repair person or snow removal service. Angie’s List is a good place to start.

-maven

This is from the AARP:

Cold-weather con artists often get in the door with low-ball prices, then hook unsuspecting homeowners with phony promises, scare tactics and bait-and-switch schemes that involve three common jobs:

Chimney sweeping. These scams usually start with telephone calls and mailed advertisements offering to clean a chimney for a bargain price, often $69 or less. But when the chimney sweep arrives, the clean-out is focused on your wallet. An “inspection” reveals any number of expensive problems — such as a supposed leak of carbon monoxide, structural damage or a worn-out chimney liner. Act immediately, you’re told.

What to know: A legitimate chimney cleaning

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Cellphones for seniors

I’ve been on this ride. Trying to find a cellphone for my 93-year-old mother and another elderly lady friend of hers has been, uh … shall we say, a challenge. The phones out there are made for kids or tech savvy grownups. Most seniors don’t want- or need - all the bells and whistles. They need clearly marked, easily to see and understand basic phone functionality.

How hard is that? Plenty hard until I saw this segment this morning. Finally, a few companies have gotten the idea, and there’s even free phones for low-income seniors.

Getting the most out of the Nutrition Facts labels

I see people in the grocery stores struggle to make real sense out of the Nutrition Facts labelling on food products - particularly seniors.

Here’s a great pdf booklet, provided by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, that you can print out and give to the seniors in your circle.

Click on the image, to redirect to the FDA site.