Falling For Phone Scams Could Be An Early Sign Of Dementia, Study Says

The woman lives alone, but she’s rarely lonely. Friends stop by most mornings, and a niece looks in weekly. Still, most of her afternoons and evenings are spent sitting in her chair, looking at the clouds and sky through a picture window. The caller sounded nice.

“Good afternoon,” he said in a cheery voice, asking whether he could use her first name. She couldn’t remember entering the sweepstakes, but he assured her that she had and that it didn’t matter: What matters, he said, is that she’d won. “And what you’ve won is a unique investment opportunity,” he explained. If she sent $200, she’d receive $2,000 in return — 10 times return on investment.