"A South Florida trio is facing up to two decades in prison after conning elderly customers into buying unnecessary septic products ? in some cases more than 70 years worth of toilet paper, federal prosecutors say. "
"...Victims were also told that they needed special soap, detergent and toilet paper or their septic tanks would not pass federal inspection."
I have a simple rule of thumb. I assume anybody that calls me that I do not know is lying to me. Most are.
I feel so sorry, within reason, for those that fall victim to hard- sell sales tactics.
If I end up with a bad product or bad service (and I have) it will be after I have done all of the research that I feel is required and have made what I consider to be an informed purchase. At that point I have no one to blame but myself.
I don't understand (I do, but you know what I mean) why some people fold under the pressure of a hard sell when all that they have to do is say "No, I'm not ready to buy yet" and hang up.
In order to complete the transaction, the victim has to take many specific actions - provide contact information, sign a check or provide a credit card number, etc. with so many points along the way to stop and just not do it. There must have been some point where the victims said to themselves "This just doesn't sound right." I've been there. I've changed my mine with pen in hand just prior to signing the seal-the-deal document.
I know, I know...it's not as simple as it sounds for some people, but it should be. I'm naturally suspicious, so my defensives are up as soon as the sales pitch - or end-of-the-world warnings, as in this case - begin. I wish everyone was like that. If they were, none of these scams would work.
"They agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and will be sentenced in February"
I'll bet that the "cooperation" won't include actual dollars-in-hand restitution to the victims.
That's a good rule. I always tell callers I never buy anything over the telephone unless I make the phone call. That usually shuts them up.
But the elderly are particularly susceptible to scams like this. My brother's father-in-law is an old Republican who has lost all his marbles. That's not a political comment, but an ageist comment. He routinely gets official-looking letters from scammers asking him to send money or Obama will take away his medicare (or similar). He gets so irate that he writes a check for $500 or $1000 and sends it to them. It's gotten so bad that my sister-in-law has started intercepting his mail so he won't be ripped off any more.
the other Frank
umm...wait? ;-)
That's too bad. When they send you mail, there is much more potential for them to get in trouble and it costs them much more. They only do it to those that have been scammed in the past. I'm older and hope I do not get this bad. It happened to a neighbor of mine, who is not senile, but got hit big time by someone that told him they were police and wanted to get credit information from him to catch a scammer and he fell for it and gave them credit card numbers, pin numbers and the like. He will not tell me how much they got but he is now on a mailing list where he even gets postage paid letters from Europe trying to scam him.
On original track, talking to a former neighbor last week whose son is a cop, was told by him not to give money to the police solicitors unless they would come in a squad car in full uniform to pick up the donation.
Do you mean that when that big red truck with the flashing lights, ladders and hoses pulls up in front of my house and the guys with the rain coats, axes and helmets knock on my door, it's legit?
I wasn't sure, so I sent them away.
hmm...maybe that explains why my garage burnt down even though I called 911 three times.
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