An old couple sitting on the bed in opposite directions

Carmel, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach are habitual hotspots for financial elder abuse because residents tend to be high-income.  AARP The Magazine recently had a great article which talked about how to avoid these scams.  Studies have shown that each of us lies several times a day.  They are mostly innocuous—“I’m on my way” is the most common lie that people tell when they are actually watching TV or cleaning the house.  Every scam requires us to believe in a lie—whatever that may be.  The reporter interviews a retired investment advisor who had lost $900,000 to investment scams over five years.  How can this be?  He said that he had spent his entire professional life working with honest folks who routinely told the truth, as he did.  He just assumed everyone was like him and his colleagues and couldn’t imagine there were people who could look you straight in the eye and lie.  How sad, but there are many people out there like that.

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