Con man could look innocent as they talk and they seemed to be very reliable people. They use persuasive tone and made their stories more convincing and believable. Some are truly professional and they could fraudulent misrepresent the product they are selling. There are several ways that con man could use to get what (s) he wants. Con men are people whom we trust such as friends, family, colleagues, professionals and strangers. Thousands of people have been tricked across the globe. Millions of money went out to the wrong hands through the word trusting. Most people end up crying over spilt milk. We read these stories from the newspapers, magazines, Internet and sometimes follow some TV documentaries an example the Fake Britain. A staggering number of Britons have been duped and made to believe that the contracts were genuine but in fact they were void.
This morning I have blocked a telesales man to sell whatever product he intended to sell to a very fragile old man whose mental state is not in position to make any valid decisions. At first when I answered the call I thought the salesman was just a mere relative of Mr Black (not his real name) who wanted to ask about his health and how he was copying up. The sales man called him by his last name and that made me to believe that they were acquaintances. So I handed over the phone to Mr Black who was about to eat his bacon sandwich, which I had prepared for him.
It was five minutes later when I suspected the person on the other side of the phone was into some “business” and Mr Black was having difficult to understand his accent and at the same time his food was getting cold whilst having this continuous conversation. The telesales man ended up asking Mr Black’s address. Mr Black gave out his address. It was at this point when I interrupted the conversation. I asked Mr Black to hand over the phone so that I could speak to the person. On the phone I spoke to the person and told him that Mr Black was in the middle of eating when he called and that his food was getting cold because of the endless conversation.
“When should I call him back?” asked the telesales man. I decided not to beat about the bush and make my point clear to him. “Let me tell you that your potential customer, Mr Black, is very old man and he is very ill. His mental state is not in a position to make any valid decision based on whatever product you want to sell him.”
“Oh, I want to speak him,” he insisted. “Back off I said and do not try to take the advantage of his age and his status.” “No. I didn’t know,” he screamed with the tears of crocodile. “ Don’t phone again,” I said with an authoritative voice. “Ok” he said as he cut off the phone.
I looked at the telephone for a while as if it holds all the secret of a con man. “You handled it very well,” said Mr Black. “Did I?” I asked. “Indeed,” he confirmed. I know that there are some genuine telesales people but majority are trying ways of getting rich quickly and targeting the vulnerable people to whom they sell illegal contracts or the fraudulent misrepresented products.
What is it that can be done to help the vulnerable elderly communities that are exposed to the criminals? Many are suffering from financial abuse that lead to psychological, emotional and negligence abuse. Majority feel insecure. Who is there to help when they are names and addresses are exposed to vultures?
