The 8th and 9th Frauds used against seniors

The 8th fraud used against seniors  are the Anti-aging Scams

Anti-ageing scams take many forms and the wording and specifics of the scams change all the time. If a product claims to reduce ageing, or make you feel or look younger, it is more likely a scam. The following is taken from an article, Some Notes on "Anti-Aging" Programs by Robert N. Butler, M.D.

Some individuals and organizations would have us believe that ageing is not inevitable and that "immortality is within our grasp." These same individuals believe that there exist well-validated biomarkers of ageing that can be used to design individualized "anti-ageing" programs. This approach is expensive and includes poorly validated interventions such as improving antioxidant status and replacing growth hormone (GH), testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and melatonin.
Although growth hormone levels decline with age, it has not been proven that trying to maintain the levels that exist in young persons is beneficial. It is conceivable that age-related hormonal changes may serve as useful markers of physiological ageing. However, this has not been demonstrated experimentally for either humans or animals. Although hormone-replacement trials have yielded some positive results (at least in the short term), it is clear that negative side effects can also occur in the form of increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and behaviour changes.
It might even turn out that lower growth-hormone levels are an indicator of health. Research findings indicate that mice that overproduce growth hormones live only a short time, suggesting that growth-hormone deficiency itself does not cause accelerated ageing, but that the opposite may be true.

 Remember there is no way to reverse ageing no matter what you may read.

The #9 fraud used against seniors is the Cemetery, Funeral and Cremation Scams.

Scammers read obituaries and take advantage of the grieving survivor by claiming the deceased owes an outstanding debt and then extorts money to settle the false claim.

Disreputable funeral homes prey on the unfamiliarity of family members with the considerable costs of services by adding unnecessary charges to the bill.

To protect yourself from this fraud, remember that it’s hard to make rational business decisions in grief. If there is a calmer, more stoic family member who has good business sense, it may be best for this person to make the funeral arrangements.