Elementary
Realtor interviews business
Allow me to introduce myself as Jacqueline Watson, a Realtor in the Toronto/GTA area. However, my expertise extends beyond real estate. I am also a Mediator specializing in Labour Relations. My passion lies in more than just selling homes; I strive to transform lives and empower individuals to achieve financial freedom through home ownership.
In addition to my real estate endeavors, I am building a thriving community through my podcast, Elementary. This platform allows me to engage with various businesses and share their stories. My career path initially began in Toronto & GTA, coinciding with a successful tenure as a Director of Labour Relations, in healthcare working in the long term care retirement and commune services industry, which I hold dear to my heart.
Combining my passions, I feel incredibly fortunate to work as both a Realtor and a Labour Mediator. Each day, I have the privilege of doing what I love, and I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. The journey that has led me here has been remarkable, and I cherish every experience along the way.
Furthermore, I recently had the honour of joining the Pilot Place board. Witnessing the incredible impact this organization has on people's lives fills me with gratitude. I am delighted to volunteer my time and contribute in any way possible to support their noble mission.
Elementary
Scam-Proofing Seniors
The digital age has brought unprecedented convenience to our lives, but for seniors, it's also created a landscape fraught with sophisticated scams that even the tech-savvy might fall for. Jacqueline Watson, a Toronto realtor specializing in working with downsizers and seniors, pulls back the curtain on the alarming evolution of senior-targeted scams in the era of artificial intelligence.
With AI now capable of mimicking voices with frightening accuracy, scammers have powerful new tools to manipulate the most vulnerable among us. Watson explains why seniors make perfect targets: they're often more trusting, sometimes isolated, and may not be familiar with the latest scam tactics. The emotional manipulation is particularly insidious when scammers pose as grandchildren in crisis or romantic interests who gradually drain life savings.
From the classic "grandparent scam" to romance schemes that have cost victims upwards of $100,000, Watson walks through the most prevalent threats facing seniors today. Particularly concerning are home-related scams involving equipment rentals that place liens on properties, potentially costing homeowners three times the value of the equipment. These contracts become especially problematic when selling a home, as Watson shares from her professional experience.
The podcast doesn't just outline the dangers—it provides practical defense strategies. Watson emphasizes the importance of pausing before acting, verifying requests independently, securing sensitive documents, and most importantly, creating a judgment-free environment where seniors feel comfortable reporting suspicious activities. The key to protection lies in community awareness and information sharing, with each person who spreads the word potentially saving someone from becoming the next victim.
Have you noticed suspicious behavior targeting yourself or an elderly loved one? Take a moment to share this episode with someone who needs this information. Remember, knowledge shared is our strongest shield against those who would prey on vulnerability.
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Welcome to elementary. I hope you had a hot, fabulous Monday. Yeah, it was a scorcher, now, that's what I would say. It was a hot one, but we've been craving this warm weather for a while, and so, even though it was extremely hot, it was also an awesome day. So an awesome day.
Speaker 1:So today I actually for those of you watching, my name is Jacqueline Watson, I'm a realtor with Second Group Tower in Toronto and I specialize in downsizing with downsizers and seniors, and today I actually want to talk about the most vulnerable group, which is seniors and scams. You know, with this AI on the rise, we're starting to see quite a bit more scams that would probably easily fool even the best of us, let alone a senior. You know we've been talking about some of the scams before and how they can easily be fooled by scams, but now, with AI on the rise and all these different voice things happening and where they can make your voice sound like really make the AI sound like anyone out there, these scams are going to get real by the day. And as much as we want to tell them don't click that button on Facebook, don't sign up for that free prize. Quite frankly, it is hard, sometimes even the best of us can get scammed and fooled and drawn into the the scam, so to speak. Having said that, today we want to talk about some things and if you're watching this or listening to it, whichever you're doing I would love for you to share it with someone. You know another senior your parents, your aunts, uncles, whoever is so that they can be apprised of the various scams and how do you really just kind of be in check when it happens? So why are seniors targeted? And you know, seniors are often seen as accessible and trusting right, are often seen as accessible and trusting right. So people tend to do all of these scams and it's kind of disgusting, really bottom line disgusting, when this happens, and sometimes people are feeling isolated and they're living on their own and they may not know, they may not have heard of these scams. Not everyone talks about them. Plus, as I mentioned, ai mimicking, voice mimicking with AI and you can just fake these calls and you're sounding like a loved one in that case.
Speaker 1:So a lot of times, we tell people to be careful about what sort of quizzes you do online, because a lot of these things have answers to. A lot of these quizzes have answers to maybe your passwords, like someone may be able to guess your passwords. I'm not saying they do, but quite possibly some of these quizzes, some of these games that people ask you what's your favorite, blah, blah, blah they. There's a way of getting, and there's so much intelligence out there, right, like if you put in all of this information on a person, at some point they'll probably be able. I know it's so much work. I would rather go get a job and work all day as opposed to scam someone, but some people scamming is their job and so you just have to be smarter. You know, I know you're tempted to take part in those online quizzes and you know answer your favorite color and your pet's name and all of those things, and it's just a way of getting you to give up more information. Now, the other thing, too, is when you apply for some of these, you know they'll say take part or participate. You really have to know what you're taking part in before you really give out your information. I think, anyways, it is so, so crucial these days, even for all of us, let alone someone who's a senior out there, right.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to talk about some of the scams. I'm not going to go into a lot of details, I'm just going to mention them. Of course, like I mentioned, if you have someone who falls into the sector, who you think could get some, who can get some knowledge about, like you know, just share it with them. And also, you know, share it with others so that they also are prepared. So when they're talking to their friends, sometimes when I see some stuff, I will share it with my parents, and my parents are part of this whole seniors group, and so then they in turn share it with other people, saying hey, by the way. But even then, I think people can easily get thrown off guard by little things.
Speaker 1:So first, the grandparent scam. You know that was going on. I still think it's happening these days, where people are calling, they're disguising themselves like a grandchild in crisis, and the other part to it is that when they're calling, the grandchild is obviously not wanting their parents to know about the kind of trouble they're in. So that's how it gets them as well, because grandparents, you know, are at that point where they think, oh, my goodness, I'm just going to bail them out, I'm going to send them the money, I'm going to get them out of this problem. We don't need to tell mom and dad just yet, but you know, a lot of times people will call and the way they share the information, they probably don't even have your grandkid's name but somehow people get so worried that their grandkid could be in a lot of trouble that they end up falling for this right.
Speaker 1:The other ones that I'm seeing online quite a bit is these romance scams, and the romance scams are, you know, people taking advantage of, you know, single people who, it really turns out someone needs money overseas and originally it'll start off in a different tone, but eventually they're going to be stuck somewhere and, oh my goodness, their bank accounts are like frozen and they really need money overseas and the whole nine yards. So that's the other number one scam. And the scam out here is so important because people actually who fall for the't even want to share this information because they're so embarrassed. And I'm not talking like $10, $20, $30, $100 here. Some of these people are reporting big ticket $30, $40, $50, $100,000, $130,000 kind of scams. It starts with small amounts and it just gets bigger and bigger. It's just something to be on top of right now.
Speaker 1:The other category is the tech scam. So you know they claim your computer is hacked and or they they say about tech support. You need to pay for the tech support in order for them to give you back whatever it is. And a lot of of times you know your loved ones may be, you know, hitting some stuff on the computer and for all you know they probably already have malware or something and it's just getting out of control. So this one, you know, you have to be very careful because those ones, a lot of times people are saying to you, you know, pay me in gift cards and listen. Anytime someone tells you to pay in gift cards or go get a gift card, I mean it's kind of worse you giving your credit card but paying in gift cards is even worse. Right, because there's no way to track. And the other way that they'll ask you is Bitcoin or something to that effect. Now, most older people don't even deal in Bitcoin. They don't even know how to get started, so that's too much for them. So they're probably kind of. But if someone says, hey, pay me in a gift card and they just have to run out to the store and go get gift cards, they'd probably do that right.
Speaker 1:The other thing that we're seeing a lot of these days are fraudulent government rebates or tax refund scams, and I know all of you want some tax refund in your account. But don't fall for it, really don't fall for it. Carbon rebate scams saying that click this link here to get the scam. They come in in text. They're coming in your email saying that click this link here to get the scam. They come in in text, they're coming in your email. Do not click the link, okay. Crypto payment scams Also. It's a big one. And see the thing with this Bitcoin and crypto and stuff. There's no way to really kind of trace the money. Right, it's not traceable. That's why people like to deal with this stuff. So, yeah, so those are a couple.
Speaker 1:And then there are other things like home lien, door-to-door services. So when we're talking about home liens, this is the area where I'm really really passionate about, because I see it so often that people will approach, they'll come to your door. They're not selling you. They're, you know, offering you something free. Hey, can I give you? There's a government subsidy. Do you want to know if you qualify for something, something to that effect? But really, where it comes in, where it becomes a problem, is when you don't read the fine print. And in case you didn't know, if you took a rental on a hot water like a furnace or ac and those rentals are such a scam because while you can get like a furnace for like six grand or seven grand I don't know some fancy one, one, maybe 10, you'll be paying two and three times the amount if you took it from one of these programs. But the most important thing that I think people don't think about is when they take these and you have to then go and sell your home. I can tell you I, as if I was representing a buyer, I don't want to work with you know some sort of contract that you signed I'm not even sure if you read it, let alone and just signed on the dotted line. So a lot of times you know we want those contracts cleared, any of those liens on the home cleared and satisfied with sales, and a lot of times we will be willing to pay a little extra just to make sure you get your contract paid, because it is a huge issue to take on someone else's contract.
Speaker 1:I remember doing this one deal and it was quite disturbing. That agent had listed the property but this was actually their property that they had bought with someone, and when we asked for the documents we were actually willing to pay more than what they end up selling for. But when we asked for the document she said she didn't have it, which I thought was kind of a little odd, because it was only like maybe two years prior, a year and a half prior, that they bought the property and added the rental equipment in. So I thought it was kind of odd. So, you know, the red flags went up right away because clearly I don't know what's in that document. And if you don't have a copy of the document and you're not willing to go through the process of obtaining that document, then I don't think I don't care how good the deal is.
Speaker 1:It's never a good deal if you don't know exactly what you're getting into. Right, at least if you, if you don't know what your buyer is getting into, because at the tail end of it, it's your job to make sure they understand all of those details anyhow. So those are really, really important. Those, the mortgage scams, of course. These days, you know, having mortgage insurance is a given that you well, title insurance sorry, title insurance is a given that you get title insurance when you go in. But I remember back in the day, and a lot of times people who've lived in the house maybe like a long long, for a long time some some of my clients have lived in their home for so long they probably don't even know what title insurance is, and so that's another thing to be worried about, like just to make sure no one's done some stuff. But you know these door to door sales, it's so important for our seniors to not get drawn into this right, to not get drawn into signing.
Speaker 1:I've seen so many people fall for like this stuff where they don't really know what's going on. They'll just sign because they think the person is nice to them, they think the person looks trustworthy and you know they don't understand that more than likely. And maybe they are trustworthy, but what they don't understand is that they are signing for like this lien on their property and it shows up as a lien and a lot of times they don't even realize how much they're going to have to pay. If they think they're just paying like 50 bucks a month or something, but I mean 50 bucks a month is 50 bucks a month. The only thing is, how many months are you paying for forever and ever. But when you have to, like, pay off that contract on, when you're selling your property maybe someone puts a clause in that you pay off the contract that's when you realize how much it really is right. So those are important things.
Speaker 1:I wanted to talk about safety, especially for a more vulnerable population. So what are some things you know you can tell your parents or your parents' friends to do is like always, you know, pause and verify. Always. Make sure you know there's nothing wrong in saying, look, you know, let me check into this and I'll call you back, or let me. I can't give you an answer right now. And if someone comes to like who even opens the door these days, honestly I don't. I just talk to my cameras and I say, yeah, can I help you, like? I mean, if I didn't call you, why are you at my door, right? So the most important is to make sure you're not getting scammed. And if you are getting scammed, talk to someone. Don't feel embarrassed about it, because it doesn't do anyone any good by feeling embarrassed. Right, keep your documents secure, especially like sensitive papers and stuff. And obviously, if you don't have family, you still have maybe friends or a community that you can trust, and maybe ask around, ask around and ask if people have heard about whatever someone's trying to sell you or trick you into. But either way, that's what I wanted.
Speaker 1:So, all of you watching, do you have stories that perhaps you've come across with your family members, your loved ones, your clients, that you think are like absolutely crazy, that you would have loved to share? Now, I mean, I think the key to all of this is sharing, right? The more we share, the more people find out about these scams and there are so many scams out there that I some days can't even wrap my mind around them that someone would go through such great lengths to scam someone. And so you can imagine, if someone was a bit older, a bit more trusting, maybe not as street smart, it's pretty unnerving to think that something like that could happen right, that they could be scammed out of a lot of money. And so a lot of times, you know, I'll say to people like, share these scams, because the more we know, the more other people know, the less people will get scammed. So I think the key is to making sure that all of us are like sharing this information If you have a new scam, you learn about it.
Speaker 1:You should share it so that people are aware. And people come across your feed, they see it and they're like, oh my goodness, I have to share this, like I know for me personally, like I said before my I share stuff with my parents and my parents are part of like a bigger seniors group and so they shared with their seniors and then they're part of a seniors exercise group so they shared with people that come there. Then they're part of a church group and a baking group and they shared with them there. So, even after sharing it in so many places, sometimes someone gets like duped by something because you know you don't always remember it. It's almost like you have to keep reminding people to share it multiple times so that they are aware and it's front of mind for them.
Speaker 1:But that's all I had today. That's all I had to share with you today. That was my topic. It's about scams and for all of you listening, thank you for sharing your dinner hour with me. My name is Jacqueline Watson and I'm a realtor at Sutton Group Tower in Toronto, and until next Monday we'll see you then. Bye.
