Scams preying on the elderly have become big business for fraudsters. One Brooklyn woman and her mother found that out the hard way as NY1 For You's Susan Jhun reports.
"We were so desperate," said Isabell McFarlane-Harding, a victim of a real estate scam.
She was desperate enough to hand over $1,500 in the hopes of getting a new apartment. Instead, McFarlane-Harding found she'd been scammed.
"We never got any money back from him," she said. "Back and forth, back and forth. Calling him. We went to his house, no answer."
After asking around, Isabell and her daughter discovered the man who she met through word of mouth and promised to hold her an apartment he owned for a deposit had also taken money from other seniors in the neighborhood with the same promise.
"There's these people — they're predators, their day job is to scam people," said Sharon Boucher-Turner, whose mother was also the victim of a scam.
"People who they know are not going to say anything," Boucher-Turner continued.
"It's a billion dollar industry we're talking, I think here in NY, about $3 billion a year is taken out of the pockets of vulnerable older people," said Christopher Widelo, Associate State Director of AARP.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network educates seniors and their loved ones on ways to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
"Slow things down," Widelo said. "Take your time. Research it thoroughly as best you can and look for outside advice. Call a friend, call a relative and ask them does this sound right, does this sound legitimate? Really make sure whoever you're doing business with or whoever you're giving money to is in fact reputable."
AARP has a great resource to alert consumers about scams in their area.
"You can sign up for an alert if you have email, so you can be notified when a new scam pops up," Widelo said.
For more information visit the consumer protection section of the AARP website.