Sandbag Senior Swindles

Ethical sellers profit by assertively steering older adults away from alternative suppliers who engage in flimflam. Researchers at University of Florida, Shaanxi Normal University, and China’s Southwest University recognize that, in order to do this, it’s useful to understand what about being elderly reduces resistances to being swindled. By reviewing prior studies, they identified these causes:

• As we age, it takes us longer to fully understand what we’re told and predict the consequences of actions we’re considering. Related to this, seniors use shortcuts to simplify their decision making so it is more manageable for them. Unless there are severe deficits, seniors can identify scams, but not if they feel rushed. So to sandbag swindles, encourage your shoppers to proceed patiently when they tell you of offers which seem too good to be fruitful. 
• Advanced age also brings with it an increased trust in people. The elderly may not realize they’re being cheated, instead attributing their losses to miscommunication or the good intentions of the marketer having gone wrong. When you sense that your senior shopper is being victimized, discuss with them the specifics of why you consider that as a possibility. Explain to them the advantages of overcoming any embarrassment and hesitations in reporting fraud to the authorities. Reporting reduces the chances others will be cheated and also stamps into the senior’s mind the warning signs they can use in the future. 
• There is also a misplaced trust in one’s own abilities. Most adults maintain into old age adequate financial literacy. But the elderly also tend to overestimate their financial knowledge and are overconfident in their financial decisions. Don’t insult seniors by implying they are inept. Do volunteer to assist seniors with their financial reasoning. 

     These factors are in part consequences of actual changes in the brain. The portions responsible for speedy comprehension and analysis deteriorate. Those functions are shunted to portions which are still intact, but need to learn how to handle the responsibility. And as to interpersonal trust, the anterior insula, which plays a part in identifying face-to-face lying, operates less well.
     Studies at Stanford University, Duke University, Humboldt University Berlin, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and AARP identified more ways in which emotional arousal, such as that famously used by successful con artists to maintain involvement, interferes with our critical thinking skills. This happens in adults of all ages, but the negative effects grow worse as we age.

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