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How to help protect seniors from scams
Seniors lost $3.4 billion to scams in 2023, up 11% from the year before, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The average loss was $34,000.
HOUSTON - Seniors lost $3.4 billion to scams in 2023, up 11% from the year before, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The average loss was $34,000.
Senior advocates say holiday family gatherings are a good time to check in on senior family members to learn if they've been scammed or teach them ways to prevent it.
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Seniors are prime targets for scams. They often hide that they have been scammed either due to memory loss or feeling embarrassed that they were duped.
Many seniors are also from a generation that's too trusting to know when they're being scammed.
"I saw in his bank account, a number of places where he had sent her money through that. $2,000 here, $2,000 there," said Craig Lane, telling us about how his elderly father was scammed two years ago.
It's often a secret that seniors keep hidden.
Lane's 82-year-old father was duped by a romance scammer pretending to be a woman in photos she texted to his phone. The photos were stolen from another woman's Instagram account. The scammer kept persuading Lane's father to send her money.
"I’ve given you over $100,000 in the past month. I don’t have any more money," Lane read from a text message his father had sent to her.
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Or another scheme hitting seniors across the country, where investigators say scammers are posing as federal agents, duping seniors into converting their assets into gold bars to be couriered to the U.S. Treasury for safekeeping. But the gold bars are stolen instead, which is what happened to a Baltimore woman's aunt.
"I wish I would’ve noticed the signs, little things like her acting a little bit more secretive. Because I feel like maybe if I had talked to her and maybe paid more attention, you know I might’ve been able to prevent this," said Laura.
That's why Brookdale Senior Living says holiday gatherings are a good time for people to check on senior family members who may be too embarrassed to reveal they've been scammed, or even know what to watch out for.
"These are scams where they prey on the fact that seniors are trusting and vulnerable. They will pull on the heart strings. They will do all sorts of things to part a senior with their hard-earned money," explained Chad White, general counsel for Brookdale Senior Living.
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They urge family members to educate seniors not to respond to unsolicited calls, text messages, or emails, and how to spot the common red flags for scams.
"If somebody is demanding money urgently, if they tell you that you have to act now or something is going to happen, we’re going to go to the authorities if you don’t act now," said White.
Scams can leave seniors and their families devastated.
"Her taking advantage of his big heart, more than anything else, is what hurts me," said Lane.
Here are questions to ask seniors to find out if they may have been scammed:
- Ask about unexpected calls or emails,
- Discuss the solicitations they have received,
- Look for behavior changes. Are they being secretive? Seniors may be told not to tell anyone about the urgent financial transaction they are making.
- And a trusted family member should review their financial statements regularly for any suspicious transactions.
You can contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline for help and mor information at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
Here are more resources for protecting seniors from scams: