More than 92,000 people over age 60 were victims of fraud totaling around $1.7 billion in 2021, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). This is a 74% increase in monetary losses from 2020. The National Elder Fraud Hotline, from the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), offers resources for those whose elderly loved one has been, or suspects they are being, scammed. According to the OVC, some of the most common scams targeting seniors include:
  • Romance scams: These are incidents in which a scammer takes advantage of a person who is looking for romantic companionship online.
  • Grandparent scams: Scammers contact (usually by phone) a person and claim to be a family member who is in urgent financial need.
  • Tech support scams: Scammers pretend to be a tech support representative, and will offer to fix non-existent computer issues in order to gain remote access to the target's devices.
  • Email extortion scams: These scammers often begin the interaction by sending a message that proves they know a password you use for an online account, and claim they've been monitoring you through things like keystroke capture and your webcam. They then threaten to release embarrassing information they've gained with your contacts unless you pay them.
In the slideshow above, we'll cover some common red flags for you and your elderly loved ones need to be aware of in order to prevent becoming victims of fraud, courtesy of Hank Schless, senior manager of security solutions at Lookout.

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Brittney Meredith-Miller

Brittney Meredith-Miller is assistant editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. She can be reached at [email protected].

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