The hustle and bustle of the holidays are prime time for con artists and scammers looking to steal money, sensitive personal information and your festive spirit.
Online fraud, text and phone scams can be financially and emotionally devastating, especially for older adults, who are often targeted by scammers who perceive them as more trusting, with a stash of retirement cash and good credit.
Cybercrime alone cost adults 50 and up nearly $3 billion last year, a 62% spike from 2020 — and that’s likely a conservative count. According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), for every case of elder financial fraud we know about, 44 more incidents never get reported.
While the art of the con can happen to anyone, anytime, scammers are out in full force during the holidays, says Cameron Huddleston, author of “Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances.”
“I think this holiday season is going to be even worse because older adults who are on a fixed income are already feeling the pinch on their budgets because of inflation,” Huddleston says. “Scammers know people are looking for deals, so they’re going to take advantage of that and people’s generosity with requests for charitable contributions.”
The Senior Source’s Carl Burlbaw, assistant director of the Elder Financial Safety Center, saw a common scam hit close to home in 2020. Two weeks before Christmas, his mother-in-law, whom he describes as “savvy and intelligent,” received a call from someone claiming to work in cybersecurity for Amazon. The scammer demanded gift cards be purchased to rectify the past-due balance of a compromised account.
“For whatever reason, she thought she could take this on herself,” Burlbaw says. “But she couldn’t and unfortunately lost $1,500.”
While Burlbaw’s mother-in-law now knows she has a network of people she can turn to for support, that’s not the case for everyone. “A lot of people, unfortunately, are not in that situation,” Burlbaw says. “The isolation of older adults is a big problem in our society.”
Scammers are constantly changing their tactics and too-good-to-be-true offers. The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to know the signs of scams and take advantage of prevention tools, such as account alerts, credit card monitoring and services like Carefull, a platform built to safeguard aging adults’ daily finances.
At the top of the red-flag list is any urgent payment request, says Huddleston, who also serves as Carefull’s director of education and content. Huddleston personally experienced the dangers of financial fraud when she stepped in to prevent her mother from wiring money to claim a “sweepstakes” prize when she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and still living on her own.
“Legitimate organizations aren’t going to ask you to make a wire transfer or to use a gift card to pay a fee [or] fine, or make a charitable contribution,” Huddleston says. “Government agencies, the IRS, Social Security, Medicare, aren’t going to call you. These agencies typically communicate by mail. If there is an urgent call to action — ‘Do this now or face a penalty.’ ‘Do this now, or your account will be suspended.’ — you know they’re trying to wake you up emotionally so you will take action. That’s a red-flag that it’s a scam.”
It’s also crucial to safeguard your personal information. Never click on links sent via email or text, and screen unknown phone calls.
“When you answer a call or accept a call from an unknown party, you immediately give up control of that situation,” Burlbaw says. “For many older adults, it’s in their nature to answer calls and be polite, but you need to stay in control. Don’t answer that call. Just let it go to voicemail.”
Establishing a trusted social network, ensuring good medical and vision care, and monitoring your loved one’s cognitive abilities all play a role in keeping someone safe from financial fraud, says Kathleen Warshawsky, a registered nurse and the owner and publisher of the Dallas-area resource guide “Seniors Blue Book.”
“Financial vulnerability as we age is not related to aging itself,” says Warshawsky, past president of the nonprofit Dallas Area Gerontological Society. “There are certain issues that can develop with aging that can lead to increasing our financial vulnerability, such as cognitive decline, hearing and vision impairments, social isolation, and medical illnesses.”
For her part, Huddleston says she never expected to become an expert in aging and the issue of talking to parents about their finances. She was inspired to write her book because she didn’t have those conversations with her mother before her memory began to fail.
“We are all targets of scams and can all become victims if we’re not careful,” Huddleston says. “Talking to your loved ones about scams is a great way to open the door to more conversations about their finances and the importance of getting involved in their financial lives.”
3 tips for safer shopping online
Don’t let scammers add a bah-humbug to your holidays. Practice these safe shopping tips to guard your personal information while you knock out the perfect gift list.
Protect your devices. Keep antivirus and security software installed on your devices and say yes to updates to protect your data. The same goes for your browser and smartphone. Make sure you run any operating system updates and only download and update apps from Apple, Google Play stores and other trusted sources.
Be password smart. Set up different, strong passwords for each account and change them frequently. Opt for passwords containing various random upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols to prevent hackers from accessing your accounts. When possible, check out as a guest to avoid retailers saving your information for next time. Although saving your info makes shopping more convenient, it also makes it easier for hackers to get your payment.
Browse safely. Pay attention to the website URL when shopping online. Look for “HTTPS” at the beginning of the address (the “s” stands for secure and encrypted) and the padlock icon in the address bar. Trust your gut if a site, link or app seems sketchy or a deal looks too good to be true.
“No one is selling an Apple Watch for $25,” says Huddleston, the personal finance author. “This may look like a great deal, but it’s not a great deal; it’s a scam. Someone wants to get your credit card information and take advantage of you.”
Knowledge is power. Resources like the AARP Fraud Watch Network (aarp.org/money/scams-fraud) can update you on the latest scams. The Senior Source (theseniorsource.org) also offers hands-on workshops to help you stay safe online.