Bah humbug! While the holidays are meant to be a time for
giving, professional scam artists are modern day grinches, intent
on manipulating vulnerable people into giving up their hard-earned
savings and jeopardizing their financial security this holiday
season. Don’t let your holiday merriment be marred by falling
victim to a financial scam.
Predatory financial scams are often a well-planned, coordinated
effort by groups of criminals, and their methods are not always
easy to identify at first glance as a scam. Seniors are extremely
vulnerable to financial scams, and are commonly targeted as
potential victims, for a number of reasons.
As most seniors have reached retirement age, scammers know that
many older adults have an established credit history, and
significant wealth accumulated over the course of their lifetime,
which means that their victims have access to large amounts of
money that could be prime for the taking
The susceptibility of older adults to coordinated scams makes
seniors a desirable target for the perpetrators, as well. Studies have shown that, as they age, seniors
have less of an ability to detect a scam, owing to a decreased
sensitivity to deception cues, and reduced decision-making capacity
that occurs as a natural part of aging.
Victims are not limited to older adults suffering from cognitive
impairment, either. One study found that 1 in 18 “cognitively
intact” older adults fall victim to financial harm perpetrated
through scams, fraud or abuse, and the CDC has recognized the
financial exploitation of older adults as a “serious public
health problem”.
While many older adults are sophisticated and frequently use
technology in their day-to-day lives, most seniors are less tech
savvy, and less experienced with computers, than most younger
adults. Their lack of familiarity with certain devices means they
are less likely to be able to recognize that a well-disguised scam
text or e-mail is not from a trusted source, or to distinguish a
legitimate communication (such as a text message or e-mail) from a
fraudulent or malicious one.
Since many seniors live alone, scammers know that it is less
likely that another member of the household will recognize what is
happening and put a stop to it before they’ve had an
opportunity to perpetrate their crime.
Around the holidays, these scams are becoming more frequent, and
more brazen. For example, knowing that shopping increases around
the holidays, scammers are capitalizing on the holiday season to
mask their scamming efforts as false “notifications” that
purchase orders a person has placed online could not be processed,
or that a package could not be delivered and must be addressed.
Others involve a scammer calling a person and pretending that they
are following up on an order that the individual never placed,
often for a high value item (such as AirPods, cellular phones,
televisions or computers). These communications lead the victim to
believe that someone may have gained access to their accounts to
purchase expensive goods, and that they need to take some action to
address the issue, whether to investigate an order they don’t
remember placing or to correct a payment method. Once the victim
clicks on the malicious link embedded in the text or email, they
may inadvertently provide personal or financial information to the
scammer while trying to “verify their identity” or to
correct a “purchase order” payment issue that never
actually existed.
Another recent scam involves texting an individual’s phone
and “notifying” them that their cellular phone bill was
paid this month as a gift, and then providing a link to follow to
view the billing statement. While it’s a nice thought, no one
(and no phone company) will be “taking care of” your
monthly bill unexpectedly, and even if they did, there would be no
text message notification from the company celebrating this
purported “good deed”.
As scammers become more sophisticated and creative, the messages
they send out to victims also become more difficult to identify as
fraudulent at first glance. Some recent scam text messages indicate
that a monthly bill (such as Netflix, Amazon, or your cell phone
carrier) was not paid and requires immediate attention. Because
more and more communications with companies are taking place by
text messages or phone calls, scammers know that individuals
receiving messages claiming to be from one of these popular
services won’t raise an immediate “red flag” for the
recipient that it could actually be a scam.
In the most egregious cases, scammers target seniors by using
high-pressure intimidation tactics to instill fear in their
victims. Recent scams have included phone calls and text messages
from a caller pretending to be a government representative, warning
that the victim owes a great deal of money and will be arrested if
they do not promptly wire money to the scammer. In other instances,
victims have received calls from an individual claiming that their
loved one, often a child or grandchild, is in some kind of trouble,
sometimes claiming that the person has been arrested, and is
overseas (or in another country) in the custody of authorities, and
that a quick transfer of money is required in order to ensure their
loved one’s safety and freedom. In both scenarios, the victim
panics, overcome with worry, and the scammer insisting that the
victim act quickly to send the money they are demanding to prevent
their loved one from suffering some harm, prevents the victim from
taking the time to fully process the information before them, and
to consider whether the information they’ve received is
legitimate.
What can we do to protect our seniors from falling victim to
these sophisticated scams?
The most important thing we can do to combat these scammers is
to educate seniors on the recent trends in scam activities, so that
they will be in a more informed position to immediately detect that
something is not right when they receive a malicious text message,
phone call or e-mail. Seniors should be cautioned that anytime they
receive a call that involves high pressure tactics, instructs that
the senior should not tell anyone (including police) about the
call, or suggests that their loved one is in danger, rather than
panic and react, take a moment to pause and assess the situation.
Seniors should be cautioned that they should always talk to a
trusted loved one (such as a child or adult grandchild), who is
tech savvy and capable of assessing whether a communication might
be a scam, before taking any action or disclosing any personal or
financial information. Never purchase gift cards or wire money
through Western Union or Money Gram, as being asked to perform wire
transfers or pay a debt by purchasing gift cards are often a
telltale sign that the “recipient” is perpetrating a
scam.
Receiving news through a text message, phone call or e-mail that
you’ve “won” something is another sign that one
should look out for. Callers know that the individual’s
excitement over the news, and their sincere hope that the news is
true, will cloud their judgment and lead them to believe that a
potentially life-changing opportunity awaits. Seniors on a fixed
income are prime targets for this type of scam. When the
“prize” requires the disclosure of personal information,
financial account information, or pre-payment of taxes or delivery
fees, one can be assured that the offer is a scam, and the only
“prize” that awaits is a valuable (and difficult) lesson
for the victim.
When receiving an e-mail, seniors should be cautioned that the
name displayed on a sender’s information may not be the actual
sender. For example, if the sender’s name appears to be the
name of someone the recipient knows or is associated with (such as
a business colleague or a family member), by hovering your mouse
over the email address, you may see that the e-mail address itself
is something very different and generic, which is indicative of a
scam. With so much information publicly available on the internet,
it is not difficult for scammers to piece together enough personal
information about a potential victim to convince the victim that
they are who they say they are, and that the basis of their request
for money or information is legitimate. Most importantly, when in
doubt, do not click any links in e-mails, and do not put personal
or financial information into any forms or requests received.
Anytime your social security number and date of birth are
requested, this should raise an immediate red flag of suspicion
that a scam is afoot.
And please remember that governmental agencies and authorities,
such as the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the FBI, and
local police departments will never notify you by phone, e-mail or
text message to let you know that you are facing an arrest,
particularly when the “arrest” can allegedly be avoided
by purchasing a bunch of gift cards and handing them over to a
third party. (Don’t worry – if you are actually facing an
arrest, these agencies will make sure to let you know in a more
official manner!)
Seniors Must Feel Comfortable Reaching Out For Help!
It is important that as soon as a senior becomes aware that
they’ve been the victim of a scam, they immediately seek help.
If they realize they inadvertently gave out personal or financial
information to the scammer, there may be a brief window of time in
which to protect certain accounts, or place a freeze on your credit
information, before accounts are drained, and precious savings are
gone forever. Loved ones can also help protect seniors from further
efforts by the scammer, since scammers may continue to try to
extort funds from a victim on an ongoing basis. Since in some
cases, a person may even go to the victim’s home to try to
retrieve money, it’s imperative that family members and the
police are informed as soon as possible to ensure the victim’s
safety.
Seniors should not allow shame or embarrassment to keep their
victimization by a scammer a secret from their loved ones, their
financial institution, or the police. These criminals are
successful for a reason, and lots of people fall for these
sophisticated scams, including smart, savvy and highly educated
people of all ages. Family members should handle these situations
delicately, and strive to refrain from reacting angrily, or making
the victim feel badly about falling for a scam (as, surely, they
feel badly enough already). We can help the seniors we love and
care for by educating them about these scams, encouraging them to
speak to us when they are suspicious about a communication
they’ve received, and to help them feel safe telling us when
they realize they’ve been the victim of a scam. Only by
treating the seniors in our lives with dignity, respect and
compassion, and keeping lines of communication open, can we help
seniors keep themselves, and their personal and financial
information, safe and secure.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
