Every May, we celebrate Older Americans Month to honor the contributions of seniors and provide support to elder individuals in our communities. With senior financial scams on the rise, we’re marking Older Americans Month this month by sharing tips and tricks to help seniors avoid fraud and scams.
According to Federal Trade Commission data, older adults lost nearly $2 billion to fraud in 2023.
Below are some common senior financial scams to be on the lookout for, as well as tips to protect yourselves and loved ones from falling victim to these scams:
Grandparent Scams
A grandparent scam often involves fraudsters reaching out to grandparents or older adults and pretending to be loved ones in a troublesome situation. They will often impersonate a grandchild or family member and pretend to be in a dire financial situation.
The scammer will urgently press a grandparent or older family member to send money quickly, often by wire transfer or gift card, playing on the emotions of the situation. Other scammers pretend to be people of authority, like police officers or mechanics, reaching out to collect money on the younger family member’s behalf.
The best way to avoid grandparent scams is to reach out directly to your grandchild or family member to confirm the information is accurate before sending money or financial information. If your loved one is unavailable or unreachable, try contacting their parent, spouse or sibling to fact-check the information being provided. Do not send money, gift cards, or money orders before first confirming the accuracy of the story.
Tech Support Scams
Tech support scams usually involve older Americans receiving an email, phone call or a pop-up on their computer asking them to call a phone number urgently to fix a virus or make a critical update to their computer. The scammer will often ask for remote access to the computer and either use that access to steal valuable financial information or demand payment for “fixing” the issue.
Avoid tech support scams by running a scan of your computer’s security software or by reaching out to a trusted, verified tech support company to verify there is an issue with your computer or technology.
If someone is proactively offering tech support to you or an elder loved one without you reaching out first, it’s likely a scam.
Sweetheart Scams
With more older adults turning to online dating, fraudsters are creating fake profiles to try and trick victims into romantic relationships and then scam them out of their hard-earned money. Scammers will often use fake photos or appeal to the victim’s emotions to make them fall in love and then pretend to need money quickly for emergencies or to travel to visit their victims.
Avoid sweetheart scams by asking to speak to a potential partner over the phone or on video to confirm their identity. Ask to meet in-person before giving away any money or sending gifts.