Editor’s note: While First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky’s biweekly column in Friday’s the Town of Darien Newsetter (you can subscribe here) isn’t specifically about Darien, Darienites can experience these problems — and it’s interesting enough to republish. Here it is:
Two stories for you this week. […]
First story. I got a call Wednesday from an old friend. He reported that his mother-in-law received an email notification that her LifeLock subscription was up for renewal. You’ve seen their ads — they provide protection from identity theft. She called the number provided, and sure enough, her service was expiring in just a week. The friendly agent indicated that all she needed to do was to confirm all of her bank accounts just to make sure everything was correct. Which she dutifully did.
As you’ve suspected, this was a scam. Within minutes after the call ended, the thieves on the other end of the phone had cleaned her out. They took every last dollar from her checking, savings and retirement accounts. She’s devastated. But she’s embarrassed, too. She feels foolish and stupid. My friend and his wife will help this lady financially, but it will take her time to get over the pain of being duped like this. I pray that there is a particularly nasty spot in hell for the criminals who perpetrate these scams.
This should get your attention: according to the ABA Banking Journal, “older Americans reported losing more than $1.9 billion to fraud in 2023, but since most fraud isn’t reported, the actual figure could be as high as $61.5 billion, the Federal Trade Commission said in its annual report…. Fraud reports from older consumers indicated that bank transfers and cryptocurrency payments were the costliest payment mechanisms, with investment scams leading to the largest losses, the agency said.”
The ABA has a useful website with resources for older Americans, which you can find here. I especially like the section called, “Protect Older Americans.” Lots of useful tips.
It was sad to hear from my friend about this theft. If there are older loved ones in your life, please spend some time confirming that they understand how to avoid scams. Take stronger action if age is robbing them of the ability to manage their affairs.
Second story. My daughter, Maggie, lives in Chicago, where she is teaching and pursuing a graduate degree in elementary education. She has just a few friends, so I have encouraged her to find ways to interact with and meet other young people. Volunteering, softball, thrift shopping and Habitat for Humanity – we discussed them all. I checked in with her this week to see how things were going.
The news wasn’t great. One experience she talked about was volunteering with a dog walking group. The web site looked fun – lots of young people having fun with dogs! The reality didn’t quite match up with the photos, though. She reported that no one really wanted to talk. She tried to engage them about cool restaurants, her latest favorite Netflix series, job struggles. Nothing worked. It wasn’t that they were focused on their iPhones (hard to scroll and dog walk at the same time); it just seemed that no one knew how to carry on a conversation.
My son, Jack, reports the same thing. Unless he’s with close friends, there is very little conversation when he’s out with other young people. He agrees with Maggie — too few people his age are good at engaging with others in a fun or interesting way. And the dating scene? Same story.
They both attribute this problem to screen time. They are the first generation to grow up with iPhones, so that’s what they know and are comfortable with. Instagram. Snapchat. Texting. WhatsApp. But actually talking? Unnatural. It’s not to say there’s no engagement. But they clearly see a problem.
I realize this is a sample size of two. But recent initiatives (Darien Public Schools and elsewhere) to get smart devices out of the classroom confirm that this is an issue. As they say, the plural of anecdote is fact.
What else can we do? If it were obvious, there’d be no point in this discussion. But, as Tony Robbins might suggest, maybe the right thing to do is focus on making one change. An example: keep your phone in your pocket or out of sight at mealtime. Or something else (one thing) that lessens the presence of screens when there’s an opportunity to interact with another person, especially a child.
That’s it for stories this week! I’ll get back to regular programming next time.
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Past editions of the Town of Darien Newsletter are archived here (this one hasn’t been posted there as of Saturday afternoon).
From the Natiuonal Council on Aging, here are descriptions of scams similar to the one described above, with advice on how to avoid being victimized.
There are differing opinions about how much of a problem young adults and teenagers have with socializing when they spend so much time on the Internet.