Elder Financial Fraud is unfortunately a booming business. It is estimated that approximately $1.7 BILLION dollars was lost to financial scams involving older adults in 2021 alone. The criminals are getting smarter. The scams are getting more complex. We fight this by educating senior citizens on how to look out for the red flags of scams. We teach best practices for crime prevention. Would you like to protect your seniors? Do you want to help them save their money, their dignity and their lives? Contact us now for a FREE presentation at your senior center*.
*Conditions apply. We are located in New Jersey and are currently limited to certain parts of the tri-state area. Please contact us for more information.
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Fake Bank Employee and Fake Check Scams:
Scammers will often impersonate banks to scare a victim into thinking that a fraudulent transaction went through their account. Once the scammer has the victim worried, the scammer will then request their login and password information. Once that is provided, the scammer will then actually commit the fraudulent transaction and transfer money from the account using the information the victim provided. DO NOT provide login information to ANYONE. If you should happen to sell something online and someone offers to send you a check FOR MORE THAN THE AGREED UPON AMOUNT, it is likely a SCAM! This is a common scam where the suspect provides a FAKE check to you and then requests you to send them back the difference. The check WILL BOUNCE and you will be at a financial loss for whatever amount you sent back. Sometimes, the victim will actually send the item out to the suspect AND transfer the extra amount, leaving the victim with NO ITEM and a FINANCIAL LOSS for the amount sent. It is VERY EASY for someone to make a FAKE CHECK online and send it to you. YOU ARE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE when the check bounces, NOT THEM! The best practice is not to accept checks when selling items online or in person. This person lost thousands after falling for this scam
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Romance Scams:
Criminals have become very skilled at playing on victims’ emotions to exploit them financially. Fraudsters made a book detailing exactly how to make someone fall in love with them online in order to scam them out of all of their money. Usually, a scammer will find out what the victim is in need of and become exactly that. Once they have made an emotional connection, the scammer will say that some horrible tragedy has occurred and they need money. They often portray themselves as very wealthy so that a victim believes they will actually pay them back. THIS IS A SCAM! DO NOT SEND MONEY TO A PERSON YOU HAVE NEVER MET! It is very easy for scammers to steal pictures online and impersonate wealthy and good looking individuals in order to con people into giving them money. This woman lost $56,000 in a romance scam
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Fake Prize Winning Scams:
Scammers love to prey on victims’ sense of excitement. Scammers will send out hundreds of calls, emails texts and social media messages each day saying you won a prize or your account has a problem. If you are ever told you won a prize BUT MUST FIRST PAY TAXES OR FEES, it is a SCAM! In many places that concept is illegal in and of itself. NEVER SEND MONEY OR GIFT CARDS in order to receive a prize. DO NOT SEND WIRE TRANSFERS of money. A victim from Connecticut lost over $1,000,000 to this fake prize scam
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Fake Grandson Is Arrested Scare:
Scammers commonly impersonate grandsons and granddaughters as even sons and daughters in order to scare victims into believing that they were arrested and are in need of bail money. The scammer will direct the victim to send money or will even arrange to have it picked up. This is a scam where they use fear to keep a victim on the phone during the process. They will often tell the victim not to tell anyone. They will also tell the victim to lie to the bank when getting money. THIS IS A SCAM. You can use the 3-way calling (Add-a-call) feature to call they supposedly arrested party or you can use another phone such as a landline to verify that the person is ok. NEVER SEND MONEY FOR BAIL OR HAVE IT PICKED UP. This is not how bail works. Real bail money is paid in person and a bail receipt is signed in person. DO NOT SEND WIRE TRANSFERS of money. This senior from New Jersey lost $8,000 to a scammer pretending to be her grandson
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Fake Technical Support Scams:
Your computer is SACRED. NEVER LET ANYONE YOU DO NOT KNOW ACCESS IT. Real technical support will NEVER CALL YOU. A scammer may call and say they owe you a refund, only to later “overpay” and then request you to send back the difference. Scammers commonly impersonate Microsoft or McAfee or other software employees in a scam to trick you into accessing a website or clicking on a link which downloads software to your computer that ALLOWS THEM TO CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER! NEVER allow this! Scammers typically access victims’ banking credentials to transfer all their money away from them. They may also request that you buy gift cards and then provide them with the gift card numbers in order to use them. NEVER BUY A GIFT CARD FOR SOMEONE YOU DO NOT KNOW. This senior lost his entire life savings by this scam
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Fake IRS Agent, Social Security and Medicare Scams:
DO NOT provide your Social Security number or Driver License number over the phone to anyone you do not know, especially not to PEOPLE WHO CALL YOU OR SEND YOU AN EMAIL TO CONTACT THEM. Suspects impersonate IRS Agents, employees from the Social Security Administration and Medicare in an attempt to steal your identity. A suspect with your Social Security number will attempt to open several lines of credit in your name. When the bill becomes due, the debt is typically sold to a collection agency, who will then contact you and EXPECT YOU TO PAY THE DEBT! Unless you are soon to be buying a new house, car or cell phone, you should FREEZE YOUR CREDIT. A suspect with your Driver License number can easily make a fake identification using your credentials along with their picture. Once they know which bank you do business with, they will simply go to one of that bank’s chains and request to withdraw money and ask the teller to look up the account using the impersonated credentials. It is not difficult for a suspect to find out what bank you use so be sure to guard your Driver License number. If you believe a suspect has your credentials, you can request to set up and use a TELLER PASSCODE to prevent unauthorized access to your account. This should not be confused with a debit card PIN code. This senior fell for a Medicare scam where the FTC won the case This senior lost money to a fake FTC agent on a daily basis