Protect Your Elderly Loved Ones from Scams

There are good reasons criminals target elderly people more for their scams. The elderly tend to be:

• More trusting of other people because they came from a more innocent generation

• Less sharp cognitively due to old age or possibly some form of dementia

• Less likely to report the fraud or scam and to aggressively follow up

• Less knowledgable about computers and technology

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported in 2023 that total losses reported by people over 60 years old was greater than $3.4 billion. That’s an 11% increase from 2022.

The statistics are sobering. The average loss someone incurred in these scams amounted to $33,915. 5,920 people lost more than $100,000. That’s a lot of money for elderly people who have limited options or time to go back to work and make it up.

They suspect the actual numbers may be a whole lot worse. Many of the victims don’t report the scams.

The FBI only recovers a small portion of the money stolen.

That’s why it’s so important to prevent these scams from happening, rather than relying on the government to recover the money.

Here are some of the top types of swindles criminals use to steal from the elderly:

Investment Scams - These are the biggest money makers for the criminals, according to the FBI. They involve investment offers that most of us would consider too good to be true. That would include stock market investing, real estate, Ponzi schemes, precious metals or even cryptocurrency. A lot of scammers may try to develop a relationship with the victim by meeting them on social media or even elderly dating websites. Then recommend these ‘investments’ once they have their trust.

Tech Support/Posing as Government - By far the most common scams practiced on the elderly. They will contact the elderly and tell them there is something wrong with their computer. They will ask the elderly person to send them money in order to fix the problem.

On the Government side, the bad actors will pretend they are from some well-known Government agency such as the IRS, Social Security Administration or Medicare. They will ask for detailed account numbers they can use to commit fraud. Or they may say the victim needs to pay a penalty or is eligible for a government benefit.

Fake Prizes, Sweepstakes or Lottery - “Congratulations! You’ve won a lot of money! Now all you have to do to claim the money is to pay the transfer taxes.” The what? If you really win a legitimate lottery or other contest, they will not ask you to pay money to claim your prize. The IRS or other government tax agency will come for their share at tax time. If there are other fees you can pretty much bet it’s a scam.

Fake Grandchildren or Other Family - Scammers can research an elderly person’s family history. Then they can have a child call the victim and pretend they are the grandchild. They will tell the victim that their grandchild is in trouble and needs some money. It’s really hard for a grandparent to say no. The scammers may even have others who act like the Police, lawyers etc to make the scam more believable.

Often the perpetrators will want to be paid in a weird way - cash, gift cards, or other payment forms that cannot easily be traced.

The best defense against those scams is to know about them beforehand and be able to recognize them when they happen. It may be good to sit down with your parents or other elderly relatives and discuss these?