7 scams targeting seniors, and how to stop each one
The seven scams that hit older adults hardest: how each one works, the red flag that gives it away, how to shut it down, and what to do if money is gone.
Published Updated
Americans 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in fraud losses to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, about 60% more than the year before, as AARP reported. The Federal Trade Commission, which tracks a different slice of the problem, found that reported fraud losses among older adults roughly quadrupled from 2020 to 2024. Both agencies say the real totals are higher, because most people who are scammed never report it.
The more useful fact: nearly every scam targeting seniors is a variation on a few moves. A stranger creates fear or excitement, pretends to be someone you trust, asks you to keep it secret, and pushes toward a payment that can't be undone. Learn the pattern once and you can spot the next scam even when the script is new. Here are the seven that hit older adults hardest.
1. The family emergency, or grandparent, scam
How it works: The phone rings. A frantic voice says, "Grandma, it's me. I'm in trouble. Please don't tell Mom and Dad." There's been an accident or an arrest, and money is needed right now for bail or a lawyer. The caller may hand the phone to a fake officer or attorney. Scammers can now clone a grandchild's voice from a short clip online, so the panic sounds real.
The red flag: Extreme urgency plus secrecy, followed by instructions to wire money, buy gift cards or hand cash to a courier. Real emergencies don't need to be hidden from the rest of the family.
What to do: Hang up and call the grandchild, or their parents, on a number you already have. Agree on a family code word now, while everything is calm.
2. The government impostor
How it works: A caller claims to be from Social Security, the IRS or Medicare. Your benefits are suspended, your Social Security number is "linked to a crime," or you owe back taxes, and only an immediate payment will fix it. Caller ID may be faked to show a real agency name.
The red flag: Threats and a ticking clock. Government agencies won't threaten arrest, demand immediate payment, or ask for gift cards, wire transfers, crypto or cash.
What to do: Hang up. If you're worried it's real, look up the agency's number yourself and call it. Social Security keeps a plain-language guide and reporting form on its scam page.
3. The tech support pop-up
How it works: The screen freezes, an alarm sounds, and a warning says the computer is infected: call this number for Microsoft or Apple support right away. The "technician" asks for remote access, "finds" problems, charges to fix them, and often steers the victim into their bank account.
The red flag: Real software companies don't put phone numbers in pop-ups or cold-call about viruses.
What to do: Don't call the number, and don't let anyone you didn't contact take over the screen. Close the browser or restart the computer; if a window won't close, hold the power button until it shuts off. Then call a technician you actually know.
4. The romance scam
How it works: A warm, attentive new contact appears on a dating site, on social media, or through a "wrong number" text that turns into daily conversation. Over weeks or months they build real affection. Then a crisis: a medical bill, a stranded business trip, a customs fee on a gift. They can never meet in person.
The red flag: The relationship moves fast, but the person can never video chat or visit, and money requests follow the first declarations of love.
What to do: Never send money or bank details to someone you haven't met in person. Talk it over early with a friend or family member; an outside view sees what the heart misses.
5. The prize or lottery "win"
How it works: A call or letter announces a big win: a lottery, a sweepstakes, a new car. Before the prize can be released, you have to pay taxes or a processing fee, usually by gift card or wire.
The red flag: You can't win a contest you never entered, and real prizes never require you to pay to collect.
What to do: Hang up or throw it away. If you're tempted, call a family member and say it out loud. Naming it usually breaks the spell.
6. The investment or crypto opportunity
How it works: A confident "advisor," sometimes met through that same friendly text thread, offers a high-return investment, often in cryptocurrency. Small early "gains" show up on a convincing fake website to build trust and draw bigger deposits, until the money and the advisor disappear.
The red flag: Guaranteed returns, pressure to act before a window closes, and fees demanded before you can withdraw. These scams cause the largest losses because the trap is built slowly.
What to do: Treat any unsolicited investment pitch as a scam until proven otherwise. Check that an advisor is registered on FINRA's BrokerCheck, and run any large or unusual money move past a trusted family member first.
7. The business impostor: your bank, Amazon, the utility
How it works: A text or call warns of a suspicious charge, a locked account or an order you didn't place, from a name you know. To "secure" the account, you're told to confirm details, move money to a "safe" account, or buy gift cards to keep the power on.
The red flag: A familiar company contacting you out of the blue and pushing urgency around money or account access. A real bank will never ask you to move your money to protect it.
What to do: Don't use the number or link they give. Call the number on the back of the card or the printed bill, or type the official website in yourself.
Three signs that run through every scam
Strip away the costume and the seven barely differ. Any one of these signs should stop you:
- Urgency. "Right now, before it's too late." A rushed mind skips the checking step. Nothing legitimate falls apart because you took an hour to check.
- Secrecy. "Don't tell anyone." Real institutions and real family don't ask you to hide a payment from the people closest to you.
- A payment that can't be traced. Gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, payment apps, cash by courier. The FTC's guide to avoiding scams treats a demand for any of them as a sign of a scam. Scammers want them because the money is so hard to get back.
One more defense lives in the phone itself. Most phones and carriers can filter or silence suspected scam calls automatically. Switch it on next time your parent's phone is in your hand.
Locking the accounts behind the money
Most of these scams talk people into moving money. But accounts can also be broken into with stolen passwords, and a few one-time settings close that door:
- A different password for every account. A long passphrase of several unrelated words is easier to remember and harder to guess. A password manager can do the remembering.
- Two-step verification on email and banking first. It asks for a code sent to the phone, so a stolen password alone isn't enough.
- Automatic updates, turned on and left alone. Updates close security holes that criminals already know about.
- A locked home network. Change the router's default password and turn on WPA2 or WPA3 encryption. The FTC's guide to securing home Wi-Fi shows where those settings live.
If the money already left the account
Speed matters more than shame, and shame is the scammer's last line of defense.
- Call the bank or card company first. A transfer caught early can sometimes be stopped, and the accounts can be locked.
- Change passwords and PINs on anything that was shared. Watch for "recovery" scams that promise to get the money back for a fee.
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov. Reports are how cases get investigated. The National Elder Fraud Hotline, (833) 372-8311, can help an older adult through the reporting.
- Freeze credit with the three credit bureaus to block new accounts in your parent's name.
Be the second set of eyes
Scams thrive in isolation. The grandparent scam works because no one else is in the room to say "let's call him first." The romance scam works because the secret stays secret. So the strongest protection a family has is presence: a habit of talking about money before it moves, and another set of eyes on the strange call.
Add a trusted contact at the bank. Make "let me check and call you back" the standard answer to any surprise. And keep the paperwork that lets a relative help in order; our guide to the legal documents every aging parent needs explains the durable power of attorney.
For a parent who lives alone, that second set of eyes is hard to come by. A caregiver who's there a few hours a week is often the one who notices the stack of gift card receipts, the new "friend" who only ever calls, or the panic after a strange phone call, and who can say, "Let's not do anything until we talk to your daughter." That steady presence is part of our companion care. Money decisions should stay with your parent and the family. What a caregiver changes is the isolation scammers count on.
None of this means treating every call as a threat. It takes one rule, repeated until it's a reflex: when something feels urgent and secret and wants an odd payment, stop and call someone you trust. If your parent is home alone more than you'd like, call us or request care.
This article is general consumer protection information, not legal or financial advice. If you think a loved one has been targeted, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov.
Common questions
Click or tap a question to see the answer.
What is the most common scam targeting seniors?
Tech support scams, government and business impostor scams, and the family emergency or grandparent scam are among the most frequently reported by older adults. Investment and cryptocurrency scams cause the largest dollar losses, because individual losses are so large. The pattern is the same across all of them: a stranger creates fear or excitement, claims to be someone you trust, and pushes for a fast payment that's hard to trace, such as gift cards, a wire transfer, crypto or cash.
How can I protect my elderly parent from scams?
Agree on one household rule: never act on an unexpected call, text or pop-up in the moment. Hang up and call the person or company back on a number you already have. Set a family code word so a real emergency can be confirmed. Make it normal to talk about money before it moves, add a trusted contact at the bank, turn on the phone's spam call filtering, and consider freezing credit. Scams depend on secrecy and speed, so anything that adds a pause and a second opinion works against them.
What should I do if my parent was already scammed?
Act fast and skip the blame. Call the bank or card company right away to try to stop the payment and lock the accounts. Change passwords and PINs on anything that was exposed. Report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Consider a credit freeze with the three credit bureaus, and watch for follow-up recovery scams that promise to get the money back for a fee.
Why are older adults targeted by scammers?
It's about circumstance, not gullibility. Many older adults have savings, home equity, good credit and steady benefits. They're more likely to answer unknown calls, were often raised to be polite and trust authority, and may live alone, which removes the second set of eyes that would catch a scheme early. Many victims also feel ashamed and don't report it, which makes the crime feel low risk to scammers.
Are requests to pay with gift cards always a scam?
If someone contacts you unexpectedly and insists on payment by gift card, it is a scam. No real government agency, utility, bank or business asks you to pay a bill, fine or fee with gift cards. The same goes for demands to wire money, send cryptocurrency or hand cash to a courier to fix an urgent problem. Scammers use these methods because they're fast and nearly impossible to trace or reverse.
How do AI voice-cloning scams work?
Scammers can copy a familiar voice from a short audio clip taken from social media or a voicemail, then use it in a panicked call that sounds like a grandchild or adult child in trouble. The defense is the same as for any grandparent scam: don't act on the voice alone. Hang up, call the person back on their known number, and ask for the family code word. A cloned voice can't pass a check the real person set up in advance.
