By Beth A. McDaniel

 

 

Falling victim to a financial scam doesn’t imply incapacity or a lack of sophistication. Financial scams are a pervasive and affect people across the spectrum of age and social backgrounds, with senior citizens being particularly targeted. Here are real-life examples of scams that have impacted individuals I know:

• A couple receives an urgent call from a member of a non-profit organization they actively support. The caller alleges to be stranded in London, having lost their wallet. The caller references mutual acquaintances, including those who recently attended the same conference as them. Without hesitation, the couple wires the money.
  • It is when they receive a second phone call in the middle of the night, this time from an individual with a thick accent requesting additional funds, that the couple realizes they have fallen victim to a scam.

• A victim is persuaded by an individual to make a bank withdrawal and place the cash inside a bag. Once the cash is withdrawn, the victim and perpetrator meet in the bank’s parking lot to ostensibly lay hands on the bag and pray over the money. After the perpetrator is long gone, the victim discovers that the bags were switched, and the perpetrator absconded with the money.
• A daughter must take protective measures to stop her dad from giving money away to the ‘nice women’ he meets on Facebook.
•  A victim maxes her credit cards and takes a loan against her house to help her ‘online boyfriend’ with his business venture. She only realizes it is not real when he abruptly ghosts her. 

A 2023 AARP report estimates that older Americans annually lose $28.3 billion to financial exploitation. In most cases, the perpetrator was known to the victim and the crimes are not reported due to shame or embarrassment.

 

Online thieves are becoming more sophisticated than ever. A September 29, 2023, bulletin from the FBI warns of a recent nationwide increase in ‘phantom hacker scams’ that are significantly impacting senior citizens. According to the bulletin, this phantom hacker scam is an evolution of more general tech support scams, layering imposter tech support, financial institution, and government personas to enhance the trust victims place in the scammers and identify the most lucrative accounts to target. Through the scams, victims often suffer the loss of entire banking, savings, retirement, or investment accounts under the guise of “protecting” their assets. Between January and June 2023, 19,000 complaints related to tech support scams were submitted to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), with estimated victim losses of over $542 million.

 

If this were not grim enough, with the advent of advancing technologies, it is becoming easy to ‘spoof’ another phone number or a victim’s loved one’s voice from a publicly posted video. Know too that scammers are astute at exploiting their victim’s heightened emotional state – happy or negative – to manipulate them into making ill-advised decisions.

 

How should you protect yourself? 

Here are a few tips which could help:

• Never give cash or gift cards to a representative of a ‘lawyer’ who is helping a loved one get out jail or a company trying to ‘protect you from fraud.’
• Never give banking information or other personal identifiers (social security number, mother’s maiden name, birthdate, etc.) to someone who calls you.
• If you contact a company through the company’s website, make sure that you verify that you are going through the actual company’s website, versus the first site that pops up when you conduct an online search for the company.
• Have a secret word that only family members know. Ask for the secret word to help verify the identity of a family member who calls in a panic requesting help.
• Do not click on unsolicited popups, links sent via text messages, or email links or attachments.
• Do not contact any telephone number provided in a pop-up, text, or email.
• Do not download software at the request of an unknown individual who contacted you.
• Do not allow an unknown individual who contacted you to have control of your computer.
• Do not ignore warning texts from your financial institution (like at least one victim did) that you may be involved in a scam.
• Never send information like bank account numbers or social security numbers through e-mail that is not encrypted or otherwise secure – even if the recipient is trusted and well known to you.
• If you are doing a significant fund transfer, transfer a small amount first to confirm the transfer instructions are correct (and not fraudulent) prior to transferring more significant funds.
• Remember that if something sounds too good to be true – like an online ad selling tennis shoes for $19.99 a pair that usually sell for $140 per pair –it, unfortunately, probably is.
• To ensure your digital safety, it is essential to have robust security software in place. Keeping it up to date is also paramount. If you need security software, before purchasing it, I recommend conducting a thorough research by reading reviews and seeking recommendations from knowledgeable individuals before making a purchase decision.
  • Once you have chosen the right software for you, download and install it directly from the official website of the security software company. Regularly run scans to detect and remove any malware. After eliminating malware, it is prudent to rerun the scan to confirm that your system is entirely free of malware.
  • Remember that legitimate security software companies will never initiate contact with you through calls, emails, or texts to inform you about issues with your computer. Likewise, they will not send unsolicited pop-ups with phone numbers for you to call regarding problems with your computer.

 

Where can you find help if you or a loved one has been scammed?

• For fraudulent transfers involving financial accounts or a credit card, contact your financial institution immediately. Although the financial institution may not always be able to make you whole, they may be able to mitigate the damage.
• The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) is staffed by volunteers who help AARP members and non-members with tips and referrals to resources.
• The FBI requests that victims report fraudulent or suspicious activities to their local FBI field office ((206-622-0460 or 1-800-225-5324 to find a field office near you) and the FBI IC3 at www.ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information as possible, including:
  • The name of the person or company that contacted you;
  • Methods of communication used, including websites, emails, and telephone numbers; and
  • The bank account number(s) where the funds were wired to and the recipient’s name(s).
• File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/), as this agency will report the fraud to the appropriate law enforcement agency. 

 

If you have additional information that we should offer to our clients regarding online scams, please contact Margo Passeau at (425) 296-3121 or margo@bethmcdaniel.com as we would love to pass it on. Let’s help keep each other safe. 

 

First Published: October 2023