National Senior Fraud Awareness Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Scams

Financial misconduct is several millennia old. In 300 B.C., the Greek merchant Hegestratos purchased an insurance policy known as 'bottomry,' in which he borrowed money and promised to repay it with interest.

National Senior Fraud Awareness Day is celebrated annually on May 15. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the fraud schemes to which senior adults frequently fall victim, as they lose approximately $36.5 billion per year to financial fraud. Due to this alarming statistic, the U.S. Congress declared the establishment of National Senior Fraud Awareness Day in an effort to raise awareness and enhance methods for ensuring the safety of senior citizens in the United States. National Senior Fraud Awareness Day was inaugurated in 2018 and has continued to occur annually.

The background of National Senior Fraud Awareness Day

Financial misconduct is several millennia old. In 300 B.C., the Greek merchant Hegestratos purchased an insurance policy known as ‘bottomry,’ in which he borrowed money and promised to repay it with interest. The repayment was due upon delivery of the insured cargo. Hegestratos, however, intended to sink an empty ship, retain the loan, and sell the goods without the lender’s knowledge. He ultimately perished while attempting to flee with his crew and passengers.

Additionally, financial fraud in the United States has a lengthy history. Charles Ponzi discovered in 1920 that he could purchase postal vouchers in the United States, send them abroad, and make a 5% profit. He did not tell his investors this, however. Ponzi guaranteed them a grossly inflated profit estimate of fifty percent. He escaped the country after using the large influx of funds from newer investors to pay off earlier investors. His deception shook so many people to their cores that this type of deceit was named after him.

Today, senior citizens are frequently the most susceptible to financial fraud, and many geriatric individuals fall victim to a few prevalent schemes. Sometimes, they are victimised by fraudsters posing as government agents and convincing them to divulge confidential information such as their Social Security numbers. On occasion, con artists send these older individuals text messages claiming there is a problem with their account, whether it be a credit card, bank account, or something else, and ask them to voluntarily provide their login information.

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