Scamsters at large

 Move aside Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Telgi, and Kalmadi. The real scamsters hide amongst us. Their modus operandi is to work as caretakers for the sick and the old. All the while I kept thinking that these are the people who do a service to the society, almost like angels of the modern world. I admit, caring for the sick is a tough job, but what I have experienced in the past two years, I nomore feel pity for people working as caretakers, instead after all the arm twisting, I pity people like me and their families.

It all with a need. Someone is either sick or old or both. There comes a time when family needs help. So we make a call to the caretaker or their agent. The immediate question is how much are we willing to pay. They don't care to ask what the patient is suffering from or what the job entails. Some of them never respond after this call. Some show up. I have experienced several kind of caretakers.

Exhibit A: The ones who go absconding 

This kind just wants enough money that will get them through some days. After the first pay day, they are nowhere to be seen. Although their phone is super glued to their ear when they are on duty at your home, they will never answer your call once they run away. We always ask them after a few days on the job whether they want to continue, they always answer in the affirmative. If you were about to pull a heist tomorrow, won't you get the jitters today? But not them. They act so well that it will give SRK a run for his money.

Exhibit B: The ones who think you are a bank

These stay longer than the absconding ones. They start building a plot about their personal lives. Then slowly they start asking for loans. At first small amounts. Then larger amounts which can be a years worth of salary. Not to mention that an ALS patient may already be struggling financially given that most people with this disease can't keep a job.

Exhibit C: The unqualified 

Even with claims of previous experience, they seem to know nothing. Some are even illiterate and yet demand an engineer's salary. Why are you taking up this job if you can't even read medicine names?

One can imagine how much time and effort is spent on training every new caretaker. How much follow up is needed to hire and retain. And how much a patient and his family suffer every time. I agree that such people will always be outnumbered by good, hardworking individuals. We just have to be lucky to find them. The truth about ALS is a patient's quality of life and household peace is deeply impacted by the caretaker.

P.S. If you have been a victim of such people, please report them as spam on the Truecaller app. Perhaps it will alert people in the future, and prevent them from falling into this trap.