81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers • Hacker News Board

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#141

Post by plonh » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 1:41 AM UTC

Mz wrote: post #135

scrubby wrote: post #21

My 85 year old grandfather didn't commit suicide, but he was taken for every penny of his meager life savings by the Jamaican lottery scam. My dad discovered what was going on, called the police, but was told there was nothing they could do. My grandfather firmly believed and probably still does that he had won the lottery and was just waiting for a payout. We basically had to revoke his phone privileges to keep him…

My mother is in her late 70s and my father died a couple of years ago, I think just short of his 89th birthday. They grew up in a different world, where a handshake meant something and overnight wealthionnaires who won the lottery or got rich doing something online that many older people cannot fathom or whatever was just not a Thing that was going on. My dad grew up on a farm, in a log cabin with a dirt floor. He re…

Then "handshake" bit is rose colored view of the past. Scams were incredibly common in the past. Real estate, diamond and gold jewelry, and even the original "snake oil" and patent medicines, and all the classic "confidence man" scams.

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#142

Post by plonh » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 1:51 AM UTC

URSpider94 wrote: post #106

murbard2 wrote: post #37

The lessons is not to "be wary of scammers" or "hack your phone"... That's totally missing the crux of the scam. The lesson is that, as you approach old age, and if at all possible, you should give a trusted relative or close friend a durable power of attorney over your finances. In addition, (or as a second best), put your money in an irrevocable living trust assigning yourself as a beneficiary, and laying out stric…

The problem is that many senior citizens, especially men, will fight tooth and nail against this. They have a self-image problem. They can not see themselves as frail and vulnerable. I lived through this with first my grandfather, then my grandmother.

That's why it is important to set up these plans for yourself before you get old and proud, when you know what lies eventually ahead. And to spend lifetime developing the tristworthy relationships you will need later.

Or go on physically dangerous adventures in your old age, like skydiving. Or donate your funds away before you get senile, and rely on charity and public assistance

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#143

Post by 0xcde4c3db » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 6:28 AM UTC

saint_fiasco wrote: post #96

DanBC wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not how dementia works.

What part? I'm almost sure the part about being mentally active to delay dementia is true. Does that only work on Alzheimer's disease, and not dementia in general?

> I'm almost sure the part about being mentally active to delay dementia is true.

This is marketing at work. There's been a huge PR campaign over the past ~10 years to convince people that "brain fitness" is an actual thing, including the idea that it is specifically useful for preventing dementia, but the science isn't really there.

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#144

Post by Mz » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 4:19 PM UTC

plonh wrote: post #141

Mz wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother is in her late 70s and my father died a couple of years ago, I think just short of his 89th birthday. They grew up in a different world, where a handshake meant something and overnight wealthionnaires who won the lottery or got rich doing something online that many older people cannot fathom or whatever was just not a Thing that was going on. My dad grew up on a farm, in a log cabin with a dirt floor. He re…

Then "handshake" bit is rose colored view of the past. Scams were incredibly common in the past. Real estate, diamond and gold jewelry, and even the original "snake oil" and patent medicines, and all the classic "confidence man" scams.

I was not saying no one ever got burned. But life was different back then and it can make it hard for an older person to figure out how to judge things today. It is very similar to moving to a different culture. Culture shock is not evidence of incompetence. It just means the context is vastly different from what you are used to, which is throwing sand into your gears. It is kind of disrespectful to assume older people are all just incompetent and stupid and not account for the fact that the world today is dramatically different from the one in which they grew up.

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#145

Post by b3lvedere » Mon, Oct 12, 2015, 1:14 PM UTC

arbitrage wrote: post #42

b3lvedere wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Wizard's First Rule: people are stupid." Richard and Kahlan frowned even more. "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People's heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. Peop…

That's an offensively trite and simplified viewpoint on a very complicated and heartbreaking topic.

I do apologize. It was never my intention to insult anybody.

Re: 81-year-old man driven to death by phone scammers

#146

Post by triangleman » Mon, Oct 12, 2015, 2:00 PM UTC

gefh wrote: post #126

triangleman wrote: post #86

https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+tech+support Google still takes ads from iYogi. If you call iYogi they will try to scam you, over and over again. This has been going on for years. Has no one complained to Google about this? What about Apple, aren't they concerned about their brand being tarnished over unwitting seniors typing "Apple tech support" into their browsers and running into a tech support scam?

I don't seem to get any iYogi ads - could you share a screenshot and I'll share it with the bad ads people?

Here you go. https://www.dropbox.com/s/8i7t0bci8w7z80c/iyogi.PNG?dl=0