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FINANCIAL FRAUD against Americans age 60 and older costs $3 billion a year, and the average loss per incident is $120,000, according to a 2020 study by the AARP Public Policy Institute. And scams against older Americans are increasing. The FBI reports that losses more than doubled from 2019 to 2021 and internet swindles against elderly victims rose 84% in 2022.
My wife was the target of a fraud and you may have been, too. As an IT specialist, I’ve learned that most cybersecurity breaches suffered by organizations could be prevented with simple safeguards, like long and hard-to-guess passwords, keeping operating systems updated and encouraging employees not to click on links in unfamiliar emails.
Such simple safeguards will also help keep you safe at home. Here are some of the most common phone and online scams, along with suggestions for how to protect yourself against them:
“Grandpa, I’m in big trouble.” In the grandparent scam, you receive a call from someone claiming to be your grandchild or other close relative. The scammer says money is urgently needed to pay medical or legal bills. The caller might also claim to be a law enforcement officer or medical professional asking for money to cover hospital bills for your family member.
You shouldn’t feel pressured to send money immediately. We all love our families, so our first instinct is to help when someone’s in trouble. The scammer may use artificial voice generation and clues from social media to make the impersonation sound more convincing.
Be wary. Make sure the call is legitimate by asking the caller questions that only your relative would know the answers to. You can also call or text the family member who’s reported to be in trouble to see if it’s true. If you realize you’re being scammed, hang up.
“Your computer is infected.” You receive a phone call or pop-up message on your computer claiming your computer has dangerous malware that’ll lock up the machine or delete your data. The caller may claim to be from a well-known company like Microsoft, Apple, Norton or McAfee.
The scammers may insist you pay hundreds of dollars for repairs or new software. Or they might try to trick you into giving them remote access to your computer and then install actual malware that steals the personal and financial data stored on your machine.
Feel free to hang up if you get an unsolicited call from someone claiming to provide tech support for your machine. Legitimate companies don’t contact you out of the blue offering tech support. You can also shut down a fake pop-up message by closing your web browser. Consider using a website malware scanner to check the websites you visit for malware.
It’s a good idea to regularly scan your computer with reputable antivirus software, and to keep your operating system, browser and security software up to date. If you believe your computer might have a problem, consult a trusted and knowledgeable technician.
“You owe the IRS back taxes.” You get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS, Social Security Administration, Medicare or law enforcement who says you owe taxes or fines. It may be a recording demanding you call a number or send payment immediately to avoid arrest or legal action.
Again, feel free to hang up and ignore the call. Government agencies don’t initiate contact with you by phone to ask for payment. They’ll mail or deliver an official letter if there’s a real issue.
“Click here for a great deal—limited time only.” You’re doing an internet search or visiting a website when you see an enticing ad for, say, “25% off iPhones for AARP members—limited time offer.” You click on the ad and are taken to another site that appears legitimate. But that site is run by scammers and can infect your machine with malware or steal your personal information.
This is a relatively new scheme known as malvertising, or malicious advertising, that unfortunately has become widespread. There have been malvertising campaigns specifically aimed at older adults. Scammers might target folks who use search terms related to tech support, recipes and cooking, online dating and games like solitaire. Other popular search terms, even innocuous ones like “weather forecast,” are also targets.
Antivirus software is intended to protect your machine against malware like this. You might consider installing a reputable antivirus program on your computer and keeping it up to date.
You could also install an ad blocker on your computer. It may prevent malicious ads from appearing in the first place. Be warned: Some websites might not function properly if an ad blocker is running.
If you see an ad or message with an enticing offer from a retailer, it’s a good idea to check the ad carefully before clicking on it. Fake ads often have misspellings or grammatical errors, or the URL might be off. When in doubt, consider going to the company’s website directly or phoning the firm.
“Get your prescription medications at 50% off.” Many Americans are looking for ways to save on their medications. Scammers take advantage of this by offering prescription drugs of dubious content and quality over the Internet. Others offer tests, vaccines or “cures” for COVID-19.
This scam can endanger victims’ health, as well as their bank account. One group in Arizona, whose members later were convicted and imprisoned, sold $1.5 million worth of fake Botox before they were arrested.
It’s advisable to order medications only from reputable pharmacies that will require a prescription from a qualified medical professional and provide information about the drug’s uses and side effects. A site like the FDA’s BeSafeRx will help you verify the legitimacy of an online pharmacy.
Legitimate pharmacies also have a physical address and licensed pharmacists available for consultations. A pharmacy that offers medications significantly below market price is cause for suspicion.
“What’s your Social Security number?” Most of us are familiar with the threat of identity theft. Recently, my wife was a victim. Scammers opened an account in her name at a well-known online retailer and charged several hundred dollars in merchandise.
Fortunately, a credit monitoring service alerted us to the fraudulent account and helped us work with the retailer to close it and cancel the charges. Identity thieves commonly target older adults because they typically have more financial assets. Also, many don’t check their account statements regularly.
You can get a copy of your credit report for free from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Review it carefully for discrepancies. You might also consider enrolling in a reputable credit monitoring service. If you were a victim of a security incident, like the 2017 Equifax breach that affected 147 million people, you might have been offered free credit monitoring services.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of a scam, there are ways to get support. The Department of Justice created the National Elder Fraud Hotline to help you report a crime and connect you to other useful resources. The hotline receives 500 calls per month.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging has also created a fraud hotline to receive fraud reports and provide information about common scams. Similarly, the Federal Trade Commission takes reports of fraud. It can’t help you get your money back, but it works with law enforcement agencies to investigate and publicize scams to prevent others from becoming victims. Finally, many state governments have adult protective services programs to protect older adults from abuse, including fraud.
Max Chi retired in 2022 after a career as an IT specialist. He also has a background in physical science and digital marketing, and a strong interest in personal finance. Max enjoys traveling, sightseeing and freelancing. He and his wife live in Texas.
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Very good post but there are two you missed. One was experienced by a cousin. The other by a friend. Both over 60. Cousin received an email from someone she thought was from her church, asking if she could send $200 to that person’s niece. Unfortunately she did. The next day she received another email asking for more money, and that’s when she got suspicious. She looked closer at the sender’s email address and realized it was very slightly different than her friend’s.
My friend was receiving messages via Instagram that she thought were from a celebrity (I know, I know, I bit my tongue when she told me about it). They communicated for almost a month before they started asking her really personal questions. Example, where do you live, do you own your own home, where do you do your banking. That’s when she got suspicious. She finally started being a little more inquisitive with this person and they started this whole “why are you asking me that? My feelings are hurt. Why are you being so mean?” She was fortunate in that she did not get scammed, but it did take her awhile to realize she was being groomed to get scammed. You have to be really careful about what you put out on the internet.
I got those “IRS” calls for years, but since we shut down our landline last year, that seems to be over.
Fraud and its prevention has been written about ad nauseam; at this point, it’s on the victim for being negligent and/or uninformed.
It’s wise to continue these warnings as aging never abates and others are always getting older should hear it also Klaatu. But I hear you. Seems sad when informed people dismiss truths, as many do. Much like sticking one’s head in the sand. That seldomly turns out well.
Good article, but one glaring omission: Credit Freeze. To protect against identity theft, freezing your credit files is free and one of the best defenses. It takes only a few minutes. Also, Credit Karma is a great free way to monitor your credit without paying the ridiculous fees that some credit monitoring providers charge.
Max,
Good review. The “relative in trouble” has been around awhile and now with AI it appears that they are going to be even more prevalent. They capture a few seconds of someone’s voice and make conversations utilizing that.
After the Equifax breach, we took Clark Howard’s advice and froze our credit. We pretty set – not needing credit very often so it has given us a good level of confidence. We’ve had to thaw accounts only twice in the last 6-7 years.
We also took his advice to have a separate computer (chromebook) for financial stuff (banking, financial accounts, credit cards, etc.) We never use that computer for anything else. Not as convenient as being able to access those via a mobile phone, but I don’t need access very frequently and my phone is company provided.
Like Rick’s comment, I have always been worried about my parents, but am of that age myself now.
I always worry about someone hacking into my financial accounts such as Vanguard or my banking accounts. I wonder how secure those apps are on my android phone. I’m considering getting Yubico Security Keys for my cell phone and laptop.
I’ve been with Wells Fargo for both checking and financial accounts for years. They introduced an RSA key (similar to Yubico or an authenticator app like microsoft’s) for 2FA. We had to purchase a key for both my and my wife’s financial accounts ($5 each), but they work great.
A good basic article and it’s certainly a topic everyone needs to be periodically reminded of. My only comment is that while the old basic scams are still out there as well, there’s a suite of new scams that are quite involved and quite clever. Recently I became aware of a scam that swindled a senior out of $200K. It went something like this: 1. the senior gets an email receipt for payment of a fake charge for tech support. 2. the senior calls the number in the email and complains. 3. the “company” quickly agrees to refund the money and directs the senior to “their web page”. (at this point, the senior thinks he’s dealing with a reputable company) 4. the senior can’t get “their web page” to work, so the helpful “company representative” offers to log into the seniors computer to help them. 5. sometime during all this, the hackers (who now have access to the seniors computer and info on his bank account for the refund) get into the seniors bank account and activate a pre-approved HELO loan that was in place. 6. the hackers convince the senior that during the refund process, the senior mistakenly transferred $200K out of their company account and into the seniors account. Sure enough, when the senior looks, there’s now $200K in his checking account. So the senior believes the story and now cooperates to transfer the money back to the company. Long story short, this scam took many days and several phone calls with the hackers. The hackers had convinced the senior he had committed a financial crime (so he wouldn’t ask anyone for help and would keep all this secret), and they got his full cooperation in (eventually) taking the $200K, converting it to bitcoin, and sending it offshore. During this entire time the senior was keeping it a secret from his wife and family as he was convinced he had committed a financial crime by transferring $200K from this company into his account. It wasn’t until the first payment came due that he realized his pre-approved HELO loan had been used to put the $200K into his account. Even though the senior had been swindled, since the senior had actually done the transfers of money the bank wouldn’t cover the loss. The moral of the story is that some of the hackers have very complicated schemes that they’ve figured out over time can work.
Max, fine article overall, and great info on the malvertising, but one sentence sorta stunned me:
“You might consider installing a reputable antivirus program on your computer and keeping it up to date.”
Yes, like you might consider eating and drinking occasionally.
A security suite is an absolute must for any device connecting to the Internet. And definitely set it to auto-update. Security providers update frequently to address new threats as they emerge.
Thanks for the warnings, but you omit the simplest and most effective defense: don’t answer calls from numbers you (or these days your phone) don’t recognize. Genuine callers will leave a message. When I still had a landline as well as a cell phone I turned the ringers off, and no scam callers and very few solicitors left messages. Now my phone tells me if I get a call from a number that’s not in my address book and I usually ignore it. I have seen a couple of scam text messages recently, though.
I hadn’t heard of the prescription medicine scam, that is really vicious. I have run an ad blocker for years, so that may be why.
I have my phone set up to ring only if the person/business is in my contact list. Otherwise it goes to voice mail and it is very rare that one of these calls leaves a message. I’m getting to the point I delete texts with links whether it’s legit or not. I just don’t take a chance. Some are legit, some could be legit and some I know are scams.
You’re lucky you’ve only seen a few scam texts. My wife and I regularly get scam texts (several a week). The most insidious are when they seem to be related to recent online activity on our computer. For example, I recently visited Goodrx and checked on some drug costs at a few pharmacies. Within days I was getting scam texts purporting to be from Goodrx thanking me for my “purchase”. They had a link they wanted me to click on. I knew it was all a scam and didn’t click on the link but I was amazed at how clever they’re getting to be.
Possibly because I use hardly any apps. I use my phone for calls, texts to a few people, occasional internet access (Firefox), occasional Google maps, and recently an app for my hearing aids. I use my desktop and iPad for most things. I also avoid handing my phone number out. I use GoodRx, but on my desktop and it doesn’t have my phone no. As an ex-techie who worked on networks I have been security conscious from the start.
Seniors seem to grab the headlines, but in 2022 the most commonly targeted age group by fraudsters was people ages 30 to 39 – 205,154 cases of fraud were reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). People aged 60 to 69 were the second with 200,216 reports of fraud in the same year.
FTC data shows that consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022. Investment scams topped the list. The quick buck perhaps?
Max, thanks for the informative article, and the links to resources. I often worried about elder relatives and their susceptibility to fraud. I guess I’m now in that category!
Max, thanks for the article. My mother was an almost victim a few years ago. She had been following someone’s advice to unsubscribe to unsolicited emails. Both had their computers “locked down”, with a message to call to pay money to fix the problem. Thankfully, she called me, and we found someone to actually fix it for a small fee.