Elder financial abuse; what can I do?

If she paid with a credit card and it's a fairly recent purchase, then you can contest the charge and they will give you the chance to make your case, so if you have a doctor's note that proves her diagnosis, this will help (or you may not need it). Then they will reverse the charge on her card. If she paid with a check and it hasn't cleared, do a stop payment on the check. Otherwise make a complaint to your state's Attorney General and let the scammers know you've done this. Contact your local tv station to their consumer reporter. They won't pursue you legally since it won't be worth their while. Their bark is worse than their bite.

Oh gosh, I hate when people try to take advantage. This happened to my mom, ONCE! Because my mom is sharp, she noticed an additional charge on her credit card bill immediately.

This particular instance was a clothing catalog that my mom rarely ordered from. My mom is extremely frugal and only buys when absolutely necessary.

Mom is not or has NEVER been an impulsive shopper. She usually only buys when something goes on sale as well. She taught me the same way to shop. I also wait for a sale and not and impulse shopper.

Anyway, this catalog signed her up for a ‘membership club’ without her permission to receive discounts and coupons. Their was a catch of course, there was an annual fee for this club which she had no interest in being a member of. She does not order enough to warrant being part of a club. Plus the membership would not offset any savings because the most she ordered was one or two items once every few years.

So I got on the phone and inquired about it. I was told what a wonderful club it was, blah, blah, blah. I politely listened and said that my mom did not willingly join and told them I had done research on their company and saw this happened to many people who ordered from their company, many of whom were the elderly and seldom ordered and did not wish to be part of this club.

Those who had advocates made complaints to the BBB and I said that I would also make a complaint if my mother’s credit card was not refunded immediately. I am happy to say that mom got her refund on the next statement. She was so upset with them for trying to scam her that she NEVER ordered from them again.

I would NOT pay your mom’s bill. Tell them they have no business trying to collect for something that was not ordered in the first place and if you don’t receive a refund you will make a complaint. Ask to a supervisor as I did. Don’t back down.

They are sneaky but shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this. They get these orders by deceiving the elderly or just processing an order that was never placed to begin with.

Have you contacted the credit card company? Tell the credit card company that you did not order it. See if they can remove the charge and take it up with the company.

Good luck on resolving this issue. I just googled magazine scams on the elderly. They recommend calling AARP, 887 908 3360 if a scam suspected and someone will walk you through a process how to handle it.

I don't know what state you're in, but in Maryland if you tell them you want to cancel and they keep sending you stuff, you don't have to pay for it.
Maybe look into your state laws on this?