Confidence Swindles of Older Consumers

Abstract

This article reports the principal findings of a 1990 national mail survey focusing on confidence swindles and their effects on older consumers (age 65 and over). The respondents were bunco investigators representing 331 local police departments in 39 states. The survey findings provide information concerning the characteristics of confidence swindlers and their elder victims, as well as the characteristics of elders that are believed likely to attract swindlers. Also identified are the tactical approaches employed by swindlers, the financial losses most commonly realized by victims, the disposition of criminal cases involving confidence swindles of elders, the changes in number and type of cases most commonly experienced in the recent past, and the patterns likely to prevail in the future. Limitations of the study are noted and implications of the findings are drawn for policy‐makers and practitioners.

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