Senior citizens are often targets of scams and fraud, whether online or perpetrated by domestic help. Many seniors are not very tech-savvy and typically depend on their younger family members for digital exploration and managing their finances. However, in case of having no children or no other trusted family member or friend, they may begin to rely on everyday visitors, such as their domestic help. Unfortunately, this blind trust can be extremely risky at times. Recently, an 82-year-old man (AS Manmohan) from Mumbai found himself in an old age home in Vikhroli (West), Mumbai, without his knowledge. This is when he has four flats in his name. His domestic help cheated him, and he managed to get one-third of his property (four flats), worth more than Rs 4 crore, registered in her name. The domestic help also took his gold jewellary worth Rs 8 lakh and cash exceeding Rs 1 crore after admitting him to the old age home under the pretense of helping him seek legal assistance, according to a report by the Times of India. The octogenarian is a retired professor from IIT Powai, and he has a wife and son in the family.
The senior citizen has been living in his flat in Hiranadani Gardens in Powai since 2009. When his son got a job in a hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad, a location around 140 kilometers from Mumbai, his wife shifted with the son, and the professor stayed back. Of the four flats he owns, he has rented out the other three.
The professor hired domestic help in 2017. She took care of his daily needs, including grocery shopping and acquiring medications. The professor trusted her and would give her money for daily procurement. He also entrusted her with managing payments for his flat's maintenance. He even shared his ATM password and net banking details, which she used on his mobile phone to make payments. Over time, she gained his confidence, collected personal information about him and his family, and ultimately used that information to defraud him.
As his vision deteriorated with old age, the maid exploited his blind trust and defrauded him. She stole cash, took out gold jewellery from a bank locker, and even transferred a portion of his property into her name.
The matter came to light when the building committee of the society where the professor lived informed his son about a request to transfer the share certificate of the professor's flat into the maid's name. When the son came to Mumbai, the son discovered the fraud. The professor subsequently lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the maid on June 8.
Such frauds are not new where a domestic help builds trust and one day gets away with money, jewellery, or other assets of the employer. Senior citizens, in particular, need to be vigilant about whom they share their personal information with and should never share passwords or other financial details randomly.
