Blood Suckers

The word Blood Sucker is one that many of us have heard about in Urban myths in reference to Vampires. We know that Vampires prey on weak individuals while leeches forage on those that are strong. If you have never heard the term Blood Sucker, you can say that you have dealt with individuals or companies where you are someone that you know have been sucked dry by a Vampire or a leech.

As I always say, being aware of your associations is very important, I cannot express this enough. It doesn’t matter how weak or strong you maybe, there is always someone patiently waiting and lurking for the perfect storm or situation to pounce upon you. It is sad but so true that trusting others and letting down your guards can cost you your life; not necessarily in a literal sense but your life all the same.

When listening to the news are reading the newspaper you often hear warnings for the elderly population to be aware of scams. One of the biggest scams used on seniors are done over the phone and/or the computer. The Social Security Administration office is always reiterating that they would never contact clients via telephone. Government entities such as the Social Security Administration office, the Internal Revenue Services, etc. would send any pertinent information to clients by mail. Senior Citizens can often become an easy target for Vampires since some older adults are lonely and live alone.

Many older adults want to hear a friendly familiar voice, to know that they are not alone are have someone around that they believe they can trust. I find that no matter how many times you say to an elderly person that they could just let the phone ring; you do not have to answer the phone they always do. I am not sure if it is out of habit or in hopes that it may be a love one on the receiving end of the call. When you think about it, you do not have to be an elderly adult and receive calls that are most likely to be a scammer. Many Fraudsters try to address you by your first name when they contact you by phone; as if they know you on a personally.

I will never forget a time that I almost fell prey to a scam…I have always received information in the mail in regards to supporting or making a donation to help American Veterans; this particular time, I had some extra monies so I decided that I would send in a donation to support the American Veterans.

After I sent in my donation, I began receiving phone calls from someone that stated that they were disabled and were selling products to help to support those with disabilities. The lady over the phone gave me the spill and I had decided that I would purchase some light bulbs. She then stated that she did not have any hands and that her manager would have to call me back to finalize the sell. We then disconnected our call and something inside of me said to google the phone number.

When I googled the number, I saw that there were many negative reviews about this said, phone number as well as it being a scam. Many reviews stated that those who contacted you from this number would never leave a message, they would just try calling you again until someone answered the call. I found this to be true; so when I finally answered the returned  call there was a gentlemen on the phone, because of my research I stated to him to never call my phone again because I knew that they were running a scam and that I would contact the authorities if they ever contacted me again.

Being swindled or scammed can happen to any number of us; age does not discriminate. There are many cases where people are taken advantage of by the very people that they trust; both friends and family. I remember watching a program about a dying woman that had planned to leave everything that she owed to whom she considered to be her best friend. This woman’s so-called best friend decided to take her life because she did not want to wait for her friend to pass away before she would receive her friend’s estate.

Many companies can be just as unscrumptious as people we know, for instance there was a time that I worked at a Bakery and it was an independent chain. What you may consider a small family business. I was hired by this bakery to be a counter clerk, meaning that I would work the counter and package up the customers bake goods and other items that they purchased. What I had witnessed on numerous occasions was that the Grandmother would sell the pastries at a higher price than the regular sale price. If some pastries were bigger in size, then she would sell them at a higher price, where do they do this at?

I am sure that each of us have our own stories to tell but we must be careful, read the fine print, know who you are doing business with and especially who you call friend.