Scam Awareness

Insights and discussion from the cutting edge with reference to journal articles and other research papers.
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NotSure
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Scam Awareness

Post by NotSure »

Scam Awareness Related to Incident Alzheimer Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective Cohort Study

https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract ... rospective

Not sure if this has been presented here, but it seems perhaps relevant. :-)

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Re: Scam Awareness

Post by mike »

A somewhat off the wall predictor for AD...
Gullibility predicted incident cognitive impairment in older adults initially free of dementia, suggesting changes in social judgment may occur years before declines in memory or thinking become evident.

People with "low scam awareness" (evaluated with a questionnaire about con-game tactics) at baseline showed a 56% higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease dementia and a 47% higher risk of mild cognitive impairment over about 6 years, according to Patricia Boyle, PhD, of Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago, and colleagues.
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Re: Scam Awareness

Post by NF52 »

NotSure wrote:Scam Awareness Related to Incident Alzheimer Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective Cohort Study
https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract ... rospective
Not sure if this has been presented here, but it seems perhaps relevant. :-)
NotSure
mike wrote:A somewhat off the wall predictor for AD...
Off the wall doesn't necessarily mean invalid. While the authors acknowledged the limitations of the study (small sample size, mostly white population, no direct evidence that people had in fact experienced financial scams), the conclusions are worthy of posting here and of concern to anyone who might assume their their parent or loved one (or self) would be immune to this. The Rush Study is a well-respected, long-term study that has generated much useful data. The association with higher amyloid burden and low scam awareness was confirmed by autopsy study of 297 people who died. The quality of evaluations and diagnosis was also high.
Participants were an average age of 81 at baseline and 77% were women. Throughout the study, they had structured annual clinical evaluations that included 21 cognitive performance tests, medical history interviews, and in-person neurologic examinations. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia was based on criteria from the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association; mild cognitive impairment was defined as cognitive impairment that did not meet criteria for dementia.
Alzheimer's Dementia Predicted by Low 'Scam Awareness'

The take-away point is this, I think: complex financial decision-making and assessment of the true motivations of others may be a frontal lobe ability that is impaired long before memory, language or spatial skills are affected.
My mother loved accounting, had been married to a CPA and graduate of Harvard Business School, followed the NYSE with the devotion of a trader and could remember the name of her stockbroker without hesitation. Yet I didn't think to ask her this simple question until she had been victimized and lost a significant part of her money: How much do you think your investments are worth? Her answer was less than 2% of the correct amount. When we sought guardianship of her financial affairs, the judge didn't question her financial acumen, relying instead on her excellent conversational skills with a court-appointed lawyer in his 70's and his note of her great housekeeping skills. The fact that she had a revocable living trust in which I was listed a current Executor of the trust, along with Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy, did not change her ability to reclaim control of her trust because a court had ruled it was her choice. Within a year, and repeatedly over the next five years, that same judge ruled in favor of my mother's initial wishes. But by then the damage was done.

In retrospect, at the first sign of the need for assistance, I should have suggested a thorough memory assessment and sought her approval for a change to an irrevocable trust. I plan to have such an assessment myself in the future if I have subjective cognitive impairment, and have advised my husband and daughter to arrange it if I am not aware of the need.
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Re: Scam Awareness

Post by mike »

NF52 wrote:Off the wall doesn't necessarily mean invalid.
Didn't mean to downplay the study. My father was an easy mark and my sister finally had to take his phone away... I did not notice the problem before he had symptoms though, so this was a surprise.
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Re: Scam Awareness

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mike wrote:
NF52 wrote:Off the wall doesn't necessarily mean invalid.
Didn't mean to downplay the study. My father was an easy mark and my sister finally had to take his phone away... I did not notice the problem before he had symptoms though, so this was a surprise.
I've read enough of your posts to figure it was written with wry admiration of the study design! ;)
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Re: Scam Awareness

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My grandmother, at 98, got involved in a scam and my mother had to bring in the FBI. Later, mom was also falling for scams. She got dementia in her early 80's, much younger than her mother. Fortunately, she had given me total control of her estate. When I moved her 700 miles to be near me, I was setting up an account for her at a new bank. The helpful bank office wanted to include overdraft protection on her checking account. I declined. I had control of the bulk of her money, but I wanted her to still be able to write a check at the store or make a donation at church. That was all good. However, had she gone off the rails, I wanted the damage limited to what was in the checking account, a very minor part of her estate.
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Re: Scam Awareness

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NF52 wrote:In retrospect, at the first sign of the need for assistance, I should have suggested a thorough memory assessment and sought her approval for a change to an irrevocable trust. I plan to have such an assessment myself in the future if I have subjective cognitive impairment, and have advised my husband and daughter to arrange it if I am not aware of the need.
Interesting. My mother went from financially savvy to not paying her bills, giving money to anyone who asked and falling for every scam that came her way. Yikes! Like Tincup, I had total control of her finances but had to stay firm with organizations (like banks) that wanted to "help" her with her money. I have to agree with NF52 about recognizing these first signs that don't add up (in any area) and then seeking help. I took my mother to her doctor when I noticed the early signs but it was 25 years ago and there was "nothing that could be done". However, it solidified that I needed to plan for her future. I too have alerted my son and best friend to take action if I do something that just doesn't make sense.
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Re: Scam Awareness

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mike wrote:A somewhat off the wall predictor for AD...
People with "low scam awareness" (evaluated with a questionnaire about con-game tactics) at baseline showed a 56% higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease dementia and a 47% higher risk of mild cognitive impairment over about 6 years, according to Patricia Boyle, PhD, of Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago, and colleagues.
Here are the steps we took to protect my mother from scam artists.
  • Gave financial power of attorney first to my brother and then to me.
  • Stopped letting her carry cash and only let her use a credit card for spending; however, someone trusted is always with her when she is buying something.
  • Put a strong No Soliciting label on our front door when she lived with us. Even though we told her not to open the front door, she would always do that when the doorbell rang. We also have a Ring doorbell, which gives us additional control options. (BTW, since we put up the No Soliciting message about 18 months ago, we have had zero solicitations. Yay!)
  • Removed text messaging from her phone service after we spotted scammers trying to reach her by text. (Texting was confusing for her anyway.)
  • Made sure everyone she needs or wants to talk to is in her phone contacts; then I set her phone on 24-hour Do No Disturb, allowing only phone calls from people in her Contracts to come through.
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Re: Scam Awareness

Post by hairyfairy »

This is fairly good news for me at least because I`m paranoid about being scammed. If anyone asks for my bank details for billing me for a service of any kind, alarm bells ring. I usually ask if they`ll accept cash, if not, I don`t want to know!
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