How to Protect Your Parents from Financial Scams

Financial scams are spreading like a virus, thanks to new technologies that make it easier for crooks to impersonate companies, government agencies, loved ones, and would-be suitors.

Older adults are especially vulnerable, due to their potential for isolation and loneliness, possible cognitive issues, and unfamiliarity with technology, all of which scammers can exploit. Criminals target older people in the belief that they’re more trusting, have considerable savings and good credit, and are less likely to report fraud, according to the FBI.

It’s important for older adults to develop some defense against scams, because those who lose money that way rarely get it back, says Bill Hall, who worked as an elder fraud investigator with the San Jose, California, police department. 

For many victims, “the emotional fallout can be much more devastating than even the financial harms,” says Lori Mars, director of the National Center on Elder Abuse. “It’s important to maintain independence, self-efficacy. When something like this happens, it can erode your ability to make your own decisions, it can take a big toll.”

Fraud is on the rise.

Federal agencies that monitor fraud have reported a surge in crimes targeting older adults. In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received about 543,000 complaints from people who indicated their age. Of those, people 60 and older accounted for the largest share: 27% of complaints and 42% of dollar losses. Their average loss was $83,000, compared with $19,372 for all complaints filed with IC3 (including those with no age indicated). 

The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network reported a fourfold increase in losses attributable to scams among people aged 60-plus from 2020 to 2024. The surge was driven by a “dramatic increase” in losses over $100,000, according to a recent FTC report. While these six-figure losses are rare (only 5% of older Americans reported them in 2024), they accounted for 68% of their aggregate losses.

Additionally, most Americans who are victims of online scams—74%, according to the Pew Research Center—never report it. So actual losses are likely much higher than official figures suggest.

The largest number of elder fraud complaints involve phishing and spoofing—texts, emails, or phone calls that appear to come from legitimate sources, which trick the recipient into revealing personal and/or financial information. The biggest dollar losses stem from investment scams, such as Ponzi, get-rich-quick, and cryptocurrency schemes.

Top Scams Targeting Older People

Although people of all ages lost the most money to investment swindles, older adults were much more likely to fall victim to four other types of scams, the FTC says.

Tech Support Scams

Criminals posing as tech support from well-known companies such as Microsoft or Apple make contact via phone, text, email, search results, or pop-up ads on computers. This “helper” might say there’s a virus or other malware and offer to sell software to fix it. Or, worse, they might ask for remote access to the older person’s computer so they can steal personal information, including account numbers and passwords. 

Hall, the former fraud investigator who now is a professional fiduciary in Boulder Creek, California, says one client gave $30,000 to a scammer who claimed they were trying to fix a problem, apparently not realizing they could have bought many new computers for that money.

The lesson: If an older person needs help with their phone, computer, or other piece of technology, they should call the company’s official tech support line directly.

Prize, Sweepstakes, and Lottery Scams

The older adult gets a call, text, email, or letter saying they’ve won a contest. The fraudster asks them to pay money or provide their account information to cover taxes or processing fees before sending the prize, which, of course, never arrives. 

Romance Scams

The older person meets someone on a dating app or social media. Then, the scammer asks to connect off the dating platform, but says they can’t meet in person because they live far away or are too busy. At some point, the “suitor” asks the victim to send money for a plane ticket, an emergency, or an investment opportunity.  

Targets are typically “lonely, a widow or widower,” Hall says. “They think they are in a relationship with someone online. Over the course of several wire transfers, they have depleted their life’s savings.”

In 2024, the FTC heard from 6,361 older people who lost $329 million—about $52,000 on average—to romance scams.

Government Impersonation Scams

Swindlers pretending to be from the Social Security Administration, IRS, Medicare, or another government agency will say that, if the older person doesn’t pay or give them their personal information, they’ll owe money, lose coverage, or miss out on a government benefit. Caller ID might even display the agency’s name, and the caller might offer their “government ID number.”

Grandparent Scam

In this one, a “grandchild” calls and says they are in another city or country and have had an accident or been arrested and need money ASAP for a lawyer or bail. 

This happened to Hall’s grandmother. She got a call from a crook posing as Hall’s cousin, saying he was in trouble and needed money. “They wanted $16,000 in cash,” Hall says. “She went and got the money; they came to her condo to pick it up.” Only later did she think to call her grandson, who was fine.

If they think a grandchild could be in trouble, older adults should call the child or the child’s parents before doing anything else.

How to Help Parents Avoid Fraud

The best way to help older people stay safe is to educate them. “Make them aware of the scams that are out there,” Mars says. The list above is a good place to start, but there are other steps they can take to reduce their risk.

Never respond.

Drill into them that they should never respond to any unsolicited text, email, or phone call, even if it seems to come from a reputable company, government agency, or service they have accounts with. “People in their 80s and 90s, who still believe in the goodness of mankind, they’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, something is wrong,’ and they will respond,” says Kim Schwarcz, a professional fiduciary in Corte Madera, California.

Tell them, if you think it could be legit, call the company or agency directly. Look for the phone number on a credit or debit card, statement, or online account. When searching for a company online, ignore the search engine’s sponsored results and scroll down to the official website. Remember, government websites use .gov at the end.

Freeze and monitor credit reports.

Encourage or help your parents freeze their credit reports at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This will prevent others from opening new credit accounts in their name. If they want to apply for a loan or credit card, they will need them to temporarily lift the freezes.

They (or you, if they’ve given you access) can also check their credit reports at each of the three major credit bureaus at annualcreditreport.com to look for errors or unknown accounts.

Don’t buy from social media.

They should never click on a link for a product they see at an incredible price on Facebook or other social media. Instead, they should go directly to the company’s site and search for the product there. They shouldn’t be surprised if the “too-good-to-be-true” deal that was advertised on the social network isn’t real.

Be careful with cash, gift cards, and payment apps.

Scammers typically want payment—and fast—by cash, gift card, wire transfer, or payment apps such as Venmo and Zelle, because those transactions are harder to trace and don’t offer the same buyer protections as credit cards. Older adults should resist pressure to act quickly and avoid using cash or alternative payment forms.

Set bank and other alerts.

To spot fraudulent activity quickly, set up text or email alerts for notification about deposits, withdrawals, or other activities in bank and other financial accounts.

Limit funds available to scams.

“Convince your parents to limit the amount in their checking account," Schwarcz says. Encourage them to keep just enough to cover ordinary expenses in there; they can put the rest into a savings account or other account.

Add a trusted contact.

Adults of any age should consider adding a “trusted contact” to their bank and investment accounts. This is a person the account holder designates to be contacted if the financial firm believes the account holder may be at risk of exploitation or can’t be reached in an emergency.

If older people in your life need help monitoring or managing their financial accounts, talk to an estate planning attorney and their banks and financial institutions to see what options are available. And make sure they have a secure way to store their passwords and PINs.