BBB warns of lottery scams targeting seniors

Lottery scams continue to target seniors and now a new study may explain what's happening with their brain function that makes them an easy target.

FOX23 spoke with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about what you can do to protect your elderly loved ones.

"Unfortunately, we get a lot of calls on a weekly basis of my elderly parent or something like that has given to a scammer. It happens every day,” said Amie Mitchell, CEO of BBB of Eastern Oklahoma.

Mitchell said lottery scams and other financial scams targeting seniors are rampant.

"We see a lot of this through landlines that are still available,” Mitchell said.

New research by the University of Southern California found seniors who make poor decisions about finances and become vulnerable to scams may be showing signs of Alzheimer's.

The study said a specific brain cortex region may be developing a thickness, preventing sending signals to other parts of the brain dealing with memory and decision-making.

Researchers said seniors may not be able to draw on past experiences to consider future consequences.

The BBB has this advice for caregivers and those of you with elderly loved ones.

“My recommendation, if you are a caregiver of someone of a significant age, to monitor their behavior, possibly take away their credit cards or even give them some fake credit cards that they can't give out those numbers that are really to their bank account. Taking away their home phone, giving them a cell phone that has limited access to the correct numbers. We really have to be careful and look out for our seniors,” Mitchell said.

Besides taking those steps to protect seniors financially, researchers at USC said assessing someone's financial vulnerability should be part of routine checkups for patients over 70.

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