We just got another one of these letters from U.S. Bank. It comes with checks we didn't ask for with our name and address already printed on it. What would happen if somebody took this out of the mailbox and used it?
This reminds me of when our elderly neighbor, Mrs. D moved away to live in a smaller apartment since her house was too much for her to maintain after her husband and brother passed away.
Art used to stop by and visit her occasionally while I was teaching because he knew she was sometimes a little foggy. Mr. and Mrs. D had been so very kind to us when we moved into our little Illinois community.
Mrs. D complained to Art that the bank kept calling her and telling her she owed them money because she wrote checks. "I don't even have a checking account!" she cried.
Art called the bank and told them, but the next time he visited she said they were still calling and threatening her. This time, she showed Art the list of places she was supposed to have used checks. When Art checked and saw the list of places, he realized what had happened. She'd used those unsolicited printed checks. And she was broke.
Art called the bank and went to a horrendous amount of trouble to write letters to vouch for the problem and to stop the creditors. He told them to stop sending these solicitations because she would not be able to pay for them.
She also insisted she'd won the Publisher's Clearing House contest and had gone downstairs to wait for people to come with the big check and balloons.
We knew then that she had dementia which got progressively worse. She had no children, but eventually we tracked down her nephew and his wonderful wife who came to get our neighbor and care for her.
While we were all helping to pack her things to move to another state, we saw in her mail more of those checks from the same bank along with a ton of solicitations for money and "good deals".
How many other elderly people are being scammed and manipulated this way? It just makes me so angry!
This reminds me of when our elderly neighbor, Mrs. D moved away to live in a smaller apartment since her house was too much for her to maintain after her husband and brother passed away.
Art used to stop by and visit her occasionally while I was teaching because he knew she was sometimes a little foggy. Mr. and Mrs. D had been so very kind to us when we moved into our little Illinois community.
Mrs. D complained to Art that the bank kept calling her and telling her she owed them money because she wrote checks. "I don't even have a checking account!" she cried.
Art called the bank and told them, but the next time he visited she said they were still calling and threatening her. This time, she showed Art the list of places she was supposed to have used checks. When Art checked and saw the list of places, he realized what had happened. She'd used those unsolicited printed checks. And she was broke.
Art called the bank and went to a horrendous amount of trouble to write letters to vouch for the problem and to stop the creditors. He told them to stop sending these solicitations because she would not be able to pay for them.
She also insisted she'd won the Publisher's Clearing House contest and had gone downstairs to wait for people to come with the big check and balloons.
We knew then that she had dementia which got progressively worse. She had no children, but eventually we tracked down her nephew and his wonderful wife who came to get our neighbor and care for her.
While we were all helping to pack her things to move to another state, we saw in her mail more of those checks from the same bank along with a ton of solicitations for money and "good deals".
How many other elderly people are being scammed and manipulated this way? It just makes me so angry!
OOOOO, I hate that too. Our credit cards send those and I'm constantly shredding them. Wonder if we can get them to stop.
ReplyDeleteI worry for my dad and mother-in-law. She saves all kinds of mail for me to see that is useless stuff. Thankfully she has her faculties yet it is confusing for her sometimes that junk that comes in the mail. They do target our elderly.
always the elderly to be prey for this crap, poor lady, I agree, those cheques should not be mailed willy nilly, our new bank card came the other day, to our neighbors mail box, that was nice, good thing she is friends with us,
ReplyDeleteI am "our elderly" and greatly fear the scams that are already coming my way.
ReplyDeleteKay you and Art are wonderful role models as I always say!
ReplyDeleteIt's a disgrace. Too many people - and not just the elderly mentally infirm - fall for these 'offers'.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that Art was able to help her with her problems. And that her relatives have taken her out of harm's way. You and Art are wonderful neighbors!
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is that her actual relatives weren't that excited about helping her. It was the nephew's wife who insisted on it. We also learned of another neighbor who lived in her condo complex who was bringing her food. Unfortunately Mrs D was not used to the spicy Indian dishes so she didn't eat all of it. Still, this Indian family was also keeping watch over her. So it was pretty much those who were unrelated by blood who were caring about her. It was strange.
DeleteWoman: caretaker to the world.
DeleteCop Car
It's a sad story.
ReplyDeleteYou can contact the credit card companies and ask that those checks not be sent to you.
ReplyDeleteThat was very kind of Art to help your neighbor.....it is awful how much of that stuff there is to worry about these days.
This was about 10 years ago. I imagine it's a lot worse now.
DeleteThis is exactly what I went through with my mother who had dementia in her later life. It is outright criminal to me. I was furious with the priest from my mother's church who brought her collection envelopes when he came to visit. My mother was stuffing them with cash and going to Mass every single day, leaving a Sunday envelope each time. It is true that my mother was generous with church contributions, but I would have wanted the priest to contact the family, not take advantage! And that was taking advantage in my view.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It definitely was. Mrs. D also had a ton of solicitations from various evangelical type churches, psychics who wanted to tell her how to get rich, "fabulous" offers for "free" gifts and good deals, etc. Two of her bedrooms were filled with JUNK that she'd bought from these places. Many of them were duplicates of the same thing. We hadn't realized it had gotten THAT bad.
DeleteIt's sad...we all need good neighbors or family members to assist the elderly!
ReplyDeleteI really feel sad for people who don't have family members who will help.
DeleteDid you write Ronni Bennett about these. I shred mine from what ever CC they arrive from. We havn't had many of those this year, G tells me. Maybe they are targeting you.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I don't know who Ronni Bennett is. We immediately shred ours too. I don't know why we would be targeted although we do get quite a few charity solicitations.
DeleteMy grandmother was taken advantage of by every TV evangelist while she was alive. When my uncle finally was able to take over her finances we figured a couple of mega churches went bankrupt.
ReplyDeleteMrs.D had a LOT of solicitations from religious organizations also, as well as psychics, etc. She really believed in those psychics and sent them quite a bit of money.
DeleteUS Bank issues some of our credit cards and we get a lot of check offers too. Usually they come with cash advance or balance transfer fees so I just shred them up. Gone are the days when these checks could be used fee free at 0% for a promotional period. I did a lot of those transfers back when....
ReplyDeleteI hope these checks come with 0% liability if it lands in the wrong hands (as do card transactions). But I think it is very hard for someone to cash one of these checks on the spot. Usually banks would require a hold on these types of promotional checks. Or if it used to pay off a credit card balance, there is sufficient paper trail for the funds to be recalled. I don't think there is much risk to the bank and hopefully not to the cc account holder either. I think the real nightmare is with debit cards used for debit transactions...no recourse there.
L...w
I'm reading one of our cardholder agreement with another bank....it doesn't specifically say 0% liability but I think it can be construed if you link two lines in the agreement:
Delete1) "You will not be liable for any unauthorized use of the card." and
2) "All of the terms and conditions of this Agreement apply to the use of the checks."
so I read the two lines to mean, I am not liable for the unauthorized use of the checks.
L..w
In our neighbor's case, there was no protection and the bank was trying to come after her since she'd used the checks. She didn't seem to even realize what she was doing. It turned out that she had used up all her savings on different scams that were coming in the mail. I considered those bank checks another scam. I've read that they come with exorbitant interest rates, etc. once you use them. Some states were trying to outlaw this bank ploy.
DeleteI can see why you are angry about these bank checks...should have prefaced my reply saying that even a good thing for some people could be a nightmare for others. And yes for those in need of the most credit, nterest rates are the highest. It is sad when someone you know is hurt unsuspectingly but banks also have to write off these loans as I don't think they can be collected on.
DeleteL...w
What's pitiful is that even AFTER Art finally got the bank to understand that she was not responsible, did not fully understand her actions, and wouldn't be able to pay for any of the checks they sent more checks a few weeks later. What the heck?
DeleteI truly can't believe they are getting away with this. It's wild west banking.
ReplyDeleteThat is just too darn sad. How fortunate Art took the time to help her and bless you both for finding some family that could take her in.
ReplyDeleteI hate those checks also and cut them up in tiny pieces.
that's so awful
ReplyDeleteGod bless you & Art for getting involved!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^= <3
A very sad commentary but how wonderful that you and Art got involved and went to so much trouble to help her. We could all do with neighbors like you.
ReplyDeleteJeepers, what a horrid thing. I bet she thought it was just a way to write checks, even though she sort of knew she didn't have a checking account. My credit card statements always have those darn blank checks. I tear them up. You two are angels to take care of her. Many of your bloggers would love to have you as their neighbor to keep us out of trouble. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteShe really wasn't completed "all there". She had almost $250,000 from the sale of her house but in just 3-4 years, she was broke. We couldn't believe it. Art didn't want to get involved in her finances so he called in the village social workers, etc. They tried to help but she didn't trust them or want any part of strangers.
DeleteMy mother died owing $5000 to Reader's Digest for tapes and books she had ordered for gifts. She'd order the same books over and over for some of us. One of my brothers lost his temper with them, saying they shouldn't let her build up such a ridiculous bill for tapes and books. He got them to settle for half that, which he paid because he and I both had Mom's power of attorney.
ReplyDeleteYou sort of expect phony home repairmen to take advantage of old people, but banks? That's somehow even more criminal. And Reader's Digest, with its goody-goody reputation for so many years...so sad, Kay, so sad.
K
It's really sad and scary that there are so many institutions and con artists who prey on vulnerable seniors.
DeleteBless you and Art for helping Mrs D. The companies that send out these types of mailings need to be taken to task by our lawmakers, particularly when it comes to scenarios like this in which elders are involved.
ReplyDeleteDavid and I get so much junk mail, i.e. possible scam items, we have deveoped the habit of tossing any envelope that looks susicious, into the trash unopened. Hopefully, when there is only one of us, the habit will carry us through. Meanwhile, I would like to do some serious damage to any bank sendiing unwanted and unsolicited credit cards, checks, etc. to vulnerable individuals. Good topic Kay. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Kay. This makes me so angry! It is a true case of elder abuse, in my opinion. There should be a law or some other form of protection for seniors from this outrage. Great post, thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a Happy Sunday, my friend!
I get those in the mail too and I've thought, what if I were senile? Art did a very good thing to help this older woman. Bless his heart.
ReplyDeleteIs it not true that our financial institutions are run by people who grew up in the Judeo-Christian tradition? I've yet to find the passages where Jesus or Abraham (or Mohammad for that matter) advise followers to screw the old people. Perhaps we don't need a lot more laws, but a general reevaluation of our societal morals to stop this sort of stuff.
ReplyDeleteWow. What a mess. And all so deliberate on the part of the banks who send out that stuff, and the scammers who prey on old people.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you got into a situation much like ours here with our next door neighbor. Fortunately she has a friend with power of attorney to help her with the financial stuff, and she is now in assisted living. We got her house mostly cleaned out, and it has already sold. Now we wait to see how many houses will be built on her property. Not cool. But it's progress, right?
Isn't this sad? I'm so glad you looked after her.
ReplyDelete