Learn how to spot scams, read about the top scams targeting seniors, and explore the comprehensive chart of common scams featuring great ways to stay protected.
A quick story
During my childhood, about 50 years ago or more, a man knocked on the front door to speak to my dad about repaving the driveway. My father was skeptical of the workman as he heard several men were going door to door in the neighborhood offering this service. Rather than repaving the drive, they’d painted a thin layer of low-quality paint over the top of the preexisting one and scam people into paying a big fee upfront before seeing the terrible results. As my father issued stern warning to the man to leave our neighborhood, another came running by with our dog chasing after him. My father believed that the first man was attempting to distract him while the other tried to enter the house. The takeaway: Scamming is not new. It can happen to anyone, anywhere, and at any given time. People must take steps for protection.
What are scams?
Scams are attempts to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence. They are challenging to spot, which is why it’s easy to fall victim. Scams can happen in person, online, by mail, phone, text, social media, and through new technologies.
Trust
At the core of scams is trust – a belief that someone is telling the truth. Scammers use tactics to gain their victims’ confidence. A scam caller may spoof a phone number by falsifying caller ID to disguise who they are and trick victims into believing a false identity. Scammers may also appeal to people’s emotions and use persuasive language to be convincing.
Seniors & politeness
Per FBI, “Seniors are often targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite.” This makes them attractive to scammers. Seniors should know that they do not need to engage with strangers who reach out to them. It is safest to refrain from answering unknown telephone calls and to ignore unsolicited emails and texts from strangers.
Stigma
Victims of scams are often stigmatized, meaning that they may be looked upon as gullible, naive, or foolish. Victims may feel ashamed and fail to report scams. The practice of stigmatizing victims of scams must be stopped. As evident in our chart, scams are vast and widespread, and scammers frequently use sophisticated techniques to trick people. Victims of scams are innocent people who are deceived by bad people. We don’t blame sheep for being attacked by wolves, do we? Likewise, we should refrain from blaming victims of scams for crimes committed to them by criminals.
Opportunists
Scammers are opportunists. They take advantage of circumstances with little regard for principles or consequences for others. Their actions are guided by self-interest motives such as stealing identities and money from targeted victims.
Life savings
Many seniors have accumulated savings reserved for retirement. This makes them extremely appealing to scammers who seek to gain access to funds for reasons of theft.
Other factors
Aside from having accumulated savings, seniors are more likely than other age groups to be isolated. For example, a widow or widower is likely to live alone and make solo decisions. Additionally, some senior citizens are lonely or face physical or mental declines associated with aging. By no fault of their own, this renders them vulnerable to scams. Scammers may also seek out older individuals with financial concerns and “offer” solutions to help them grow their money.
Commonalities
Scams can vary, but they often share common attributes. Here are basic cornerstones of scams:
- Scammers initiate contact with potential victims via unsolicited phone calls, emails, or texts.
- Scammers take extraordinary steps such as lying about their identity, inventing elaborate stories, using AI or spoofing technology, or creating fraudulent websites to trick victims.
- Scammers pressure people to stay on the line, follow their instructions, and keep everything secret. They will make up reasons why people can’t tell anyone.
- Scammers make financial demands or pressure targets to pay. They typically ask or demand payments from victims via untraceable methods such as:
- Cash or money transfers
- Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin etc.)
- Gift cards
- Internet currency
- Prepaid debit cards
- Wire transfers
The elderly
Advanced age can lead to declines in mental and physical health. Decision making and carrying out transactions might pose challenges for some individuals. Therefore, designated loved ones may need to guide financial and other decision-making affairs, and help the elderly avoid scams.
Most common scams affecting seniors
Per Medicarefaq.com, more than 1 in 6 senior citizen victims have fallen for a scam in 2024. Nearly half (49%) of scam victims surveyed say they lost money. 59% did not report the scam to authorities because a) they didn’t know how b) they didn’t lose too much money c) they felt embarrassed about falling victim. The most common scams included: online shopping scams (30%), tech support scams (21%), phishing scams (17%), internet fraud (14%) and identity theft (9%).
Why report scams
Scams, especially those involving loss of funds, identity theft, or threats of violence, should promptly be reported to the appropriate officials. This includes the police, banking or financial institutions, and/or government agencies. Reporting scams is the #1 way to stop scammers and prevent others from being scammed.
There’s help
Seniors who don’t know how to report a scam should use the following resources below or call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 or 1-833-372-8311 (typically open Monday through Friday).
For scam education and reporting scam crimes, also visit:
- Here, you can learn where find the best agency or organization to report the scam.
- This gov’t website allows you to report fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your report may be shared with more than 2,800 law enforcers.
- This website allows you to find tips and read the latest in consumer advice, including learning about identify theft, online security and ways to protect yourself from unwanted calls, emails and texts.
- This is the official Internet Crime Complaint Center, the central hub for reporting cyber-related crime. It is run by the FBI, the lead federal agency for investigating crime.
- This website is to report IRS-related tax scams.
Useful scam terminology:
There are some common terms associated with scams. They include and are not limited to:
Advanced fee fraud: Promises of large sums of money requiring payment upfront.
Brushing: Deceptive tactic where online sellers or scammers send unsolicited packages to individuals.
Catfishing: Creating a fake identity online to deceive someone into a romantic relationship.
Grandparent scam: A bad actor posing as a grandchild or close relative to ask for money.
Hacker: Someone who gains access to a computer or other device to illegally access data.
Identity theft: Using someone else’s personal information for financial gain.
Imposter scam: Pretending to be someone you know or trust to collect money.
Juice Jacking: Malware locked on public USB charging stations.
Malware: This is malicious software used to gain access to your computer to cause harm such as a virus.
Phishing: Scams using emails or text messages to trick victims into revealing personal information.
Pyramid Scheme: An illegal investment scheme where “profits” are derived from recruiting new members.
Quishing: QR codes (scannable barcodes that store data) are used to commit fraud.
Ransomware: Malware that holds a victim’s files hostage until ransom is paid.
Robocall: A phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver pre-recorded messages.
Smishing: These are SMS phishing or text message scams.
Skimming: The illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip or chip of a credit or debit card. Scammers can steal credit card information using a device called a skimmer.
Spam: An unsolicited email for which you did not sign up.
Spoofing: Using technology to present a fake phone number or email address or text number.
Spyware: Fraudulent software that is installed and runs in the computer’s background to gain information about users/passwords and more.
Vishing: Scams using phone calls.
Wire or money transfer fraud: Tricking someone into transferring money.
