Why Didn’t We Think Of That?

by Ron Daly

What would you do if you found out your parents (or grandparents) had given away five thousand dollars to a fake charity scam?

Would you be angry? Sure, I bet you would. You’d be angry at the fake charity. These people play with elderly people’s sympathies and their sense of compassion. It’s just horrible. Makes me angry thinking about it…

You might even tend to be a little disappointed at your older-folks for falling for it, even though that’s blaming the victim. They only want to help people and find time to chat with a friendly face or a warm voice on the other end of the phone. You gotta give them a break.

Would you be mad at the bank or credit union that let the charges go through? Well, they don’t have any way of knowing which charges are legitimate. Right?

Thanks to a Gen-Y wunderkind, these crummy charges can be avoided.

Kai Stinchcombe, a “serial entrepeneur” who’s well under 40, create True Link, a prepaid card that seniors can use in conjunction with a checking account or pension fund that alerts close family that charges are being made and can allow those charges to be preempted via text message alert. That way, a group of weirdos pretending to be the Lion’s Club charity drive can’t make off with grandma’s life savings. Stories like this one don’t have to happen anymore to elderly folks who may be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, or are just a bit too trusting.

It’s a genius idea. It will likely prevent hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions, from being slipped out of the hands of trusting senior citizens. Heck, with just a bit of tweaking, this could be the solution for “grey charges” – you’d be the person authorizing every withdrawal.

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