AARP Tricking Seniors - Now that's Shameful

The purpose of the AARP is to help seniors. One of their areas of focus is helping seniors avoid scams. That's why it baffles me that the AARP itself uses the same kind of tricks that scammers use to fool seniors.

This first picture is an insurance offer. I have no opinion on the quality of the insurance. It might be great. My beef is with the envelope.

First look, "AARP Member Offer Enclosed." And then "Response Requested." A person might reasonably expect that this is about their AARP membership, and that there is some action needed. That's the trick to get someone to open the letter. The point is, they used a trick to get the letter open. A trick--on seniors--to fool them into opening the letter.

You might say, but Ken, it says "member offer," which should be clear that it's not a "membership offer." And they are indeed requesting a response. And that's true--but they've chosen words to obfuscate what the communication is. Of course, few people would open a letter that said, "Insurance offer for AARP members" you know, unless they were shopping for insurance. But that's the point of the trick. At least the insurance company put their name on the back in the return address.

Well, how about this one:

Isn't that nice. This is clearly labeled as an insurance offer, so that's good, right. But look at that: "Insurance Savings Card Enclosed." Who wouldn't want an insurance savings card? I better not bend this important, money saving card they've sent me. I can feel the official card through the envelope. I don't want to mess with my insurance.

Oh, darn, tricked again. Turns out, that's not a savings card, but another trick on seniors to get them to call an insurance company for a quote. AARP shouldn't put their name on these things. In fact, I expect AARP to actively work to stop these kinds of tricks on their members.

But, you might say, these are mailings from AARP affiliates. AARP wouldn't directly try to fool its constitutes. Take a look at this one:

There is no indication that this one comes from AARP on the envelope. It just says "Department of Member Benefits." Oh, and it comes during a time when most seniors are renewing health insurance. It's an important time to not miss an envelope with a health insurance card inside.

Note the phrase, "Card Enclosed." You can feel the hard plastic card inside.

And, the kicker, "Reactivation Requested." Imagine what you might think in the middle of signing up for health insurance when you get a nondescript envelope (think HIPAA privacy) with "Reactivation Requested" on it.

AARP knows what they are doing here. It's not an accident. These are marketing tricks, aimed at seniors to get them to open the envelope.

Thankfully, there's no damage here, at least not to the person who opened it, but perhaps there is a little damage to the reputation of AARP, an organization that should be advocating for seniors and against these kinds of tricks. Do better AARP.