How to cancel anything my husband may have done on a call from a solicitor/scam artist?

One thing you can do is get a hold of your telephone provider and ask them how to block Robo calls. That will be the majority of your scam calls. You set up an account online under your provider and then you have the option of blocking Robo calls and also calls that have blocked phone numbers. That really cut down on those kind of scam calls for us. If there’s a caregiver in the house when I wasn’t there I’d have them answer the phone or listen in on the phone calls and interrupt my client and say no thank you were not interested if he started getting Questions like that.

My husband got taken for $400.00 in a magazine scam. They sent a contract for him to sign. He brought it to me because he said all he could remember is the lady just got out of the hospital. I called her and cancelled the subscription and fortunately got his money back. While I wasn't home, he also answered the door to a Direct TV sales person who made him think we had to change to their company. I stopped that too. My new problem is letters he is getting for money. He sits and waits for the postal carrier and I just can't get to it before he does. He has been giving $125. a month to one political action committee. About the first he sends them $60. about the fifteenth they send him another letter and he sends them $65. I am trying to get it stopped. I hope he listens to me. If not, I guess my next step is calling the political action committee. What is sad is this was a cause dear to his heart, but enough is enough.

After that one scam, he is afraid to answer the phone. We have Caller ID and his two nieces who are the only ones in his family that call him are calling him on his cell phone.

To everyone that says the do not call registry doesn't work, it does but you have to update it every couple of years. It is not a one time forever deal.

Call and update, then put a reminder in your calendar to do it every year or two.

As others have said, definitely use the information others provided to freeze his credit at all three major credit bureaus. Thankfully this is now free to all, after the Experian breach. Note there are other bureaus that we are not generally aware of, but these are the big three.

Do also find out through your phone service provider if they have any kind of blocking tools, perhaps a child proofing tool that you can have applied. I have never had to use one, so am not familiar with what's available out there. Just blocking the number that called isn't enough. With "spoofing", they just use another fake number. You could spend a lot of time one day blocking numbers and then have to repeat it again the next day with a whole new set of numbers!

You indicated that you use the phone to contact him, so the suggestions for routing calls to you or turning off the sound are not viable options! There should be some tool/service available to at least limit these incoming/scam calls.

The credit freeze isn't always foolproof though AND does NOT protect everything. I froze mine years ago and although the first unfreeze I needed went okay, the more recent one (Equifax), despite having a pin number and knowing all the answers to the questions failed... I had to search around to find an alternate number (the main number is a menu system, no customer service option) and wend my way through various menu options until I was able to get a live person on the line.

I have little use for these "services" offered that "watch" your accounts (and charge you.) Because of various oopsies by others, I have had a few of these given for free. They really did NOTHING. I would not waste a dime on them.

Although it is a pain in the butt sometimes, the freeze should be recommended to EVERYONE. That said, KEEP IN MIND that the freeze will ONLY prevent someone using your credit information opening NEW accounts, getting a job, renting, loans, etc, including YOU. It will NOT protect ANY existing accounts or any credit cards you currently have.

Jennifer3 - I would recommend you freeze your credit and his, but also review ALL your accounts/credit cards. If he is on ANY of your accounts, close/cancel and open new accounts or get replacement cards in YOUR name only.

As others have noted, that donotcall list really doesn't help with today's scammers. 1) they don't care if you are on the list and 2) many of the "robocalls" are also "spoofing" the numbers used, to trick people into answering. If my cell doesn't show the name of someone on my contact list, I dismiss the call. I already new the spoofing was being used because I would get calls from all over the country and the exact same recording would be left on voice mail. My current plan only allows 5 blocks, and with the constantly changing numbers the scammers use, this is useless. I do plan to check out this new free offering from my provider - I don't answer the calls, but it is annoying to be interrupted, or to have to call in to delete any messages left...

To the person who said they don't call your mother's cell... beware. Having a cell does NOT protect you! I sometimes get 4-5 calls in a day, all from different numbers! The more recent ones DO try to use the area your phone is "from", as part of the "trick". I moved, but kept my old number, so for the most part they haven't figured that out yet.

Fraud alerts may help, however in general these expire after 90 days (checking FTC, this has changed: "UPDATE:  As of September 21, 2018, the law says credit freezes are free for everyone, and alerts now last one year (not 90 days)."

You can renew them, but who needs more tasks to suck up their time?

All quoted information came from the FTC site, link at the end of this post.

"With a fraud alert, businesses must try to verify your identity before extending new credit. Usually that means calling to check if you’re at a particular store attempting to take out new credit. With a credit freeze, no one – including you – can access your credit report to open new accounts. You’ll get a PIN number to use each time you want to freeze and unfreeze your account to apply for new credit."

Personally, I would go with the freeze, as painful as it might be to unfreeze temporarily if needed. Clearly if someone has stolen your information, they can likely change the number to call and pretend to be you!

One nice feature on the fraud alert is you only have to contact ONE bureau: "The one you contact is required to notify the other two."

However, I prefer the freeze - NO one can get new credit, etc unless they have the information (aka PIN) to unfreeze it.

IF you are an identity theft victim, the alert is extended to seven years, however it is more complicated ("...you’ll also need to mail or upload your Identity Theft Report which you can create at IdentityTheft.gov.")

I cannot tell from a quick look, but I believe you need to know more information about the scammer AND file a police report. Although freezing requires doing it at all three bureaus, there is so much more peace of mind - but as noted in another response - this will NOT protect any existing accounts! You need to review ALL accounts you have and make necessary changes (in this person's case, remove husband from all accounts, open new ones in her name only.)

Go here for details (includes a link to filing a report):
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/fraud-alert-or-credit-freeze-which-right-you

For my home phone, I installed the Nomo Robo. I did it online through my internet/phone company. It has done a grand job of keeping robo callers at bay! The biggest thing one has to remember is not to answer the phone on the first ring (which some elderly people won't do). I'm still young enough to remember not to answer phone numbers I don't recognize, and I refuse to answer any call that gives no name, since I have caller ID on my phones. For my cellphone, I just don't answer any call that is not someone I recognize. I always believe if the call's important, the person will leave a message. I block plenty of numbers on my phone!

Sorry you have to go through this with your husband. You have great information that has been shared, and I trust you'll get a good resolution in this matter.

Call 3 credit report agencies & have fraud alert & credit freeze

Get some medium to large piece puzzles by TRU-GRIP for him to work on and keep him occupied.

My father is 85 and no mental problems but I tell ya he will give away the farm AND the animals too! Can you have the calls rerouted to your cell phone so they won’t even go to the house? Can you do without a home phone and just use your cell phone? Also you can place a lock on your social security files so no body can access any info. On your credit file you can place a fraud notice too. I get the scammers on our home phone every hour. I tell them to remove me from their call list and hang up. They continued to call from one company so I stayed on the phone line. When a real person answered I explained that I asked them to remove me from their list and they call every hour. She denied it. I told her these calls have now moved to harassment & stalking so keep talking because my phone is tracking where exactly the call is coming from. I will press charges and you will be prosecuted. They hang up and have never heard from the company again!

(1) Get a legal POA. (2) Freeze his credit through Experian and all other major credit reporting agencies. Do this by certified letter, so you have clean files. Use the same letter, send to multiple addresses. Then you will be fine. Optional (3) contact the asocial Security Administration, but this probably won’t help additionally.

Do a search on your phone (home or cell) and find that number. Place a block on that phone number. In addition, contact your financial institution and describe the situation in case charges show up on your bank accounts. Tell them that your husband is not of lucid mind and to kindly remove the charges, if any show up. Also, inform the financial institution that he is no longer an authorized user on any of the accounts.

That's easy, take away the phone and get him a 911 call button during the times you are not at home.

Lots of sage advice here. I guess the simplest solution is to get rid of the land line and have only a cell for you. Also, I am curious if you have thought about hiring a caregiver to be with him during the day when you are at work. He will be safer.

There are call screening services which will only allow incoming calls to connect to your phone if they are from approved numbers, or if you allow the call specifically.

This is what happens from the caller's end: you ring the number. You hear "this line is being monitored by Acme Call Guardian Services. When you hear the tone, please state your name then press the hash key." So you do that, and then you hear an additional ringtone, and then eventually either your friend says "oh hello you!" or you get a further message saying "your call cannot be connected at this time."

I would expect this system to deter most cold-call scoundrels; but even if some do hang on your husband would also have to comply with the instructions at his end before they could get through, and it doesn't sound as if he'd be able to.

But to be honest: if his dementia is becoming this advanced, is it time he was not left unattended anyway?

When a friend died we found out she was being hooked by Reader's Digest marketing with promises of cars, trips etc - much had Singapore, Hong Kong return addresses but local postage - so we took to ones that were the most expensive to return & wrote 'UNSOLISITED MATERIAL - RETURN TO SENDER' - that worked better that telling them she had died but it took 3 months for it to stop - FYI ... if you open it you can't do this so leave it sealed

You need to go to all three credit bureaus and lock down his SSA# Keep the pin safe. You can always do a call forwarding to your cell phone or to an answering service. My mom gave her ssa # to a scammer and it took 2 years to clean up that mess. Her ssa can not be used for anything now without my approval. I had to cancel EVERYTHING and reopen new checking accounts, credit cards etc. I transferred all her mail to a P O Box and gave her only the safe stuff. I hope you have a P.O.A , if not you need to have all the legal stuff in place so you can help him without jumping through a ton of hoops. Do not put your name on any of his accounts etc, If something happens you will be responsible for payments, Use the P.O.A to manage his accounts, you can also get a trust and have a clause that if he become incapacitated (You will need a letter from a Doctor) you will become his Guardian. AARP has free legal advice.

Contact Equifax and they will notify the other two bureaus. Sign up for a service like Privacy Assist offered by many banks for a nominal monthly fee, they will notify you if there is any unusual activity. Get him a burner phone, for 911 emergency only.

So Jennifer3 - were you able to get everything taken care of (close account, freeze SS# for both of you, find a phone screening tool)? There are others who can learn/benefit from hearing how things worked out for you (and we'd love to know that all is well for you!)