Here’s a harsh reality that needs to be said. Scammers tend to view seniors as easier and higher-value targets for their fraudulent operations.
Why? Many of the most popular scams utilize technology. The less a victim knows about technology, the easier it is to pull off the ruse.
The reality is that most seniors have limited experience with technology and don’t usually have the time to keep up with the everchanging landscape.
This creates opportunities for scammers to try and separate you from your hard earned money and assets you spent a lifetime accumulating.
Thankfully, education is a great deterrent to the success of these scams. The more that you as a senior know about what these scammers are trying to do, the better prepared you can be.
Today, we’re going to look at the seven most common online scams designed to target seniors. We’ll look at how they work, and share some tips to protect yourself.
1. Tech Support Scams
One of the most common online scams right now is what’s known as the tech support scam. With this scam, the victim receives either an email, a pop up on their screen, or a phone call telling them that there is something wrong with their computer or phone. It might say there is a virus, that you’ve been hacked, or even that your files or money are at risk.
The idea is that the victim sees this and panics. “Thankfully”, the scammer is right there ready to help you fix everything. They’ll represent themselves as a bank agent, a tech support expert, or something similar. Usually, they’ll get you on the phone and tell you just how bad everything is, but that they can help you fix it.
Sometimes they’ll offer to fix it for free, and sometimes they’ll ask for payment. The payment, while real, is usually there just to make the bigger scam feel more legitimate. If they charged you, they couldn’t be trying to steal your money, right? Unfortunately, not.
Once you agree to accept their help, they’ll usually send you a link or an email with a link to get a program that lets them “fix your computer.” What this file actually does is gives the scammer unfettered access to your computer and your files.
They’ll “walk you through fixing it” which may involve you logging into your bank or accessing your email accounts to “check that they’re safe”. While you’re doing this, they’re either recording your keystrokes (so they know your password), or they’ll have you “move your money to keep it safe from the virus.”
In reality, all they’re doing is having you move the money that is 100% safe into the scammer’s account.
What’s even more alarming is that the scammers can even use these programs to change what you see on the screen. You might see “the fraud” actually in your bank account, but it’s merely their program playing tricks on you.
What You Can Do
Do not ever give someone else control of your computer for any reason. If you truly believe you have an issue, use a completely separate device (like your phone or computer), research a local computer or device repair shop, and call them.
Do not call the number the scammer gives you or respond to an ad for help that “suddenly pops up.” Find a resource completely independent from the situation and ask that person for assistance. Anything else connected could be the scammers.
2. Romance Scams
Romance scams are one of the most popular scams perpetrated against seniors. In fact, they’re so popular that we’ve created a completely standalone resource to help you work through them. These scams are when someone pretends to be someone else in order to gain your trust and then asks you for money for a made-up emergency.
What You Can Do
If you’re single, dating, or making friends online, please do yourself a huge favor and read our safety guide on how to protect yourself from romance scams.
3. Medicare and Health Insurance Scams
We all know as seniors that healthcare is expensive and whether you have insurance or Medicare, there tends to be a lot of back and forth to get claims handled properly. Scammers see this as an opportunity to insert themselves into the noise and get you to make a mistake.
Here’s how the scam usually works. You’ll receive a phone call from Medicare or your insurance company. They’ll tell you something is wrong and that you need to fix it, but in order to help you, they’ll need to verify some of your information. This information might include log in details, your social security number, banking details, etc.
But, it’s not really your bank calling you. It’s scammers pretending to be them. They can even make the phone number look like the real one from the company.
Once they have your information, they’ll use it to steal your money.
What You Can Do
If any company (not just Medicare or insurance) calls you, tell them you are going to hang up and call them back to confirm you’re talking to the right people. The scammers can actually “spoof” the number on your phone so it looks like you’re getting the call from the right number, but it’s actually from the scammers.
If you hang up and key in (actually dial) the number for your insurance company or Medicare from the back of your membership card, you’ll be able to find out if there really is an issue with your account. This is really the only way to guarantee you’re talking to who you think you are.
Never give out verification information of any kind if the company called you.
4. Fake Prize, Lottery, or Sweepstakes Scams
With this popular senior scam, you’ll receive an email, text, phone call, or even something in the mail that says you won a prize, lottery, or sweepstakes. The catch? In order to unlock your winnings, you’ll need to make a payment of some sorts.
Often, these scams will promise millions, which can make it very enticing. In reality, though, there are no instances where you should have to pay anything or even give payment information to get your winnings. If it’s a real contest, you just get your winnings.
What You Can Do
If a contest asks you to pay to receive your prize, walk away. It’s not real. If they ask for sensitive personal information to “verify” you as a winner, walk away. It’s not real. Legitimate prize companies understand the fraudulent landscape out there and will make sure getting your money doesn’t require anything that could even remotely resemble a scam.
5. Grandparent Scams
These scams are some of the scariest because they really pull at your heart strings. The scam comes in all shapes and sizes, but here’s an example of how it might go.
You get a call in the middle of the night from your grandson telling you that something bad has happened and they’re in jail or hurt. They need your help to get bailed out or to pay for treatment or else something even worse is going to happen. Being the loving grandparent you are, you give them your banking information to make the payment. Except, it wasn’t your grandson all along. It was just a scammer impersonating them to steal your money.
These scams work because they catch you off guard, often in the middle of the night, and prey on the fact that you love your family.
Sometimes it will be an artificial intelligence version of their voice where it really sounds like them! Sometimes it might be an attorney calling on their behalf. Sometimes the call might sound chaotic to really put a sense of urgency on you.
Do not fall for it.
What You Can Do
When this happens, hang up the phone and call your grandson (or whoever it is) directly. If they don’t answer, call their parents, friends, or anyone else you know. Most likely, they’re going to answer, and you’ll quickly find out that it was a scam.
6. Government or Bank Impersonation Scams
Similar to the Medicare or insurance scam, you may receive a call from the government (like the IRS) or your bank telling you there is a problem that needs to get fixed. Often, the problem will be a severe one that “could risk you losing all of your money if you don’t act fast.”
Just like with the Medicare scam, this one is a scam too. They’re just trying to get you to give over sensitive information so that they can access your account and send your money to themselves.
What You Can Do
The same tip works here. Hang up the phone, and call the bank or agency directly. If there really is a problem, you’ll be able to fix it with someone knowing that you are safe. Most likely, though, you’re going to find out that everything is okay, and it was just an attempted scam. If they start to fight to keep you on the line, you’ll know already it’s a scam before you even hang up to call your bank.
7. Recovery Scams
The last type of scam we want to talk about is one that actually comes after another scam has happened. Once you’ve been scammed, you may go online looking for help to recover your money. You may find yourself contacted by someone who says they can help you get your money back.
This is almost always a scam. They might ask for payment for the help, or they might ask for you to “verify the stolen information” so they can try and trace it. Both of these are just ways to gain access to any money that you may have left that hasn’t been stolen.
What You Can Do
Ignore these requests. The only people you should be talking to at this point are the authorities, and only when you call them first. Remember, recovery scammers could reach out to you and pretend they’re the authorities as well.
Healthy Framework Team
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