Protecting Seniors Online: Recognizing and Avoiding Common Scams

It seems like every day there is a new scam hatched with designs to separate us from our hard-earned life savings.

Unfortunately, our senior loved ones are often the primary target of the unscrupulous behavior of scam artists, who know that the seniors they stalk probably have a nest egg in their savings account and aren’t quick to adapt to technology, making them especially vulnerable to electronic scams.

Protecting Seniors from Scams: Top Scams Affecting Seniors and How to Avoid Them

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), these are the top scams affecting seniors:

Check Cooking

Thieves acquire a check, preferably a used one with a signature on it, and use digital editing software to alter the name of the person the check is directed to and the payment amount. Seniors should therefore consider using a different form of payment, such as debit or credit cards, to pay bills instead of paper checks. Some banks discourage the use of paper checks, urging their patrons to use electronic bill payment software instead. If you must write a check, don’t put it in your mailbox to wait for a postal worker to pick it up, drop it in the mail slot at the post office. It’s safer.

Voiceprint scams

Scammers call people on the phone and record a sample of the victim’s voice. They then use technology to duplicate your voice to create a message that helps them perform their unlawful deeds. They can create a message in your voice informing your banker to transfer your money to their account or other similar illegal acts. Avoid becoming a victim by not answering the phone if you’re not expecting a call. According to experts, relying on your caller ID isn’t even a safe bet, because phones can be stolen or cloned to make it appear that the stranger on the other end of the line is someone you know.

Sweepstakes scams

One of the oldest scams in the book is the one where someone contacts you to say you’ve won a fabulous prize. You just have to give them your bank account number so they can send you the money or your social security number to verify your identity and make sure the taxes are taken care of. Once they have your information, they can steal your identity to take out credit cards in your name, apply for loans or write checks from your bank account. And, of course, there never was a prize! AARP advises that if it sounds too good to be true, it certainly is. Your best move, should someone call to tell you that you’ve won a prize you never signed up for, is to simply hang up the phone before any damage can be done.

Virtual celebrity scam

This routine is played out by people who either create fake celebrity social media pages or mine real pages for information about fans of the stars in question. They may see a comment your senior loved one left on a popular singer’s page and reach out to them via private messaging claiming to be that star or someone who represents them. Counting on the trust and admiration the recipient of the message has for the celebrity, the scammer claims their fortune is tied up in legal wrangling or that they have an investment opportunity they’d like to share, asking for a short-term loan that will pay off big in the end. Stay safe by realizing that celebrities are unlikely to reach out to random fans on the internet and, if they did, they’re not going to expose personal details to them or ask for private information. Such a scenario is certain to be a scam, no matter how good it might sound.

The Grandparent Scam

Another old trick that always seems to have a new variation, this scam specifically targets seniors by playing into their emotions. A young person paid by a criminal organization pretends to be the senior’s relative, saying they have been arrested or involved in an accident and need money to solve the problem. Sometimes there can be multiple actors involved, including ones who play police officers, defense attorneys or government officials to give the situation authenticity. They might even offer to send a courier to the grandparent’s home to pick up the cash. Stay safe by double checking. Hang up, call your grandchild, their parent or another trusted relative on a known phone line to verify their status. If the caller asks you to keep the situation a secret, it’s a red flag that they’re trying to keep you from finding out the truth. Protecting seniors from scams like this is crucial as technology makes it easier and easier for scammers to mimic voices or find out background information on family members.

The Big Event Scam

Similar to the grandparent scam, people hack into email accounts and claim they’re at a well-known event, for example the Olympic Games, and say they lost their wallet and are stranded overseas in need of money. As with the Grandparent Scam, verify the circumstances before sending any money in response to an unsolicited communication. Try to call the person directly or reach out to their family members or friends to find out where they are and if they’re really in need.

Scam artists try to work against our senior loved ones’ good nature, exploiting their desire to help people they care about. It’s important to give your senior loved one a warning about these sorts of scams before they happen so they recognize the warning signs and potential consequences of their actions.

For more information on protecting seniors from scams, visit Bethesda’s blog.