We would like to think that criminal activity would leave some demographics of the population alone like children or aging seniors. Unfortunately, that is just not a reality and as a senior caregiver something you should plan to encounter before it is too late.
Phone scams are one of the most popular scams that are attempted on seniors – especially those with memory ailments. Common phone scams that are attempted on seniors can be (but are not limited to):
- IRS or Government Agency Scam: A common approach for scammers is to call seniors and pretend to be part of the IRS or government agency. They might say that your loved one has a past due balance of taxes that need to be paid immediately or pretend to represent a Medicaid specialist. What to tell your loved one: Any government communication will come through mail. Never believe somebody calling on behalf of the government.
- Utilizing Google Voice to Use Their Identity: This is a difficult one to avoid because it can often go undetected for a long period of time. The scammer will try to find a senior’s phone number listed on something they are trying to sell (i.e., Facebook Marketplace) and pretend to be interested in the item. Once they get your senior on the phone, they pretend that they want to verify they are speaking to a real person and request to confirm a verification code they have sent to your phone. What they have really done is open a Google Voice account under your loved one’s phone number and will conduct scams in your name. What to tell your loved one: Never share a verification code over the phone with anybody.
- Fake Amazon Employee: As Amazon continues to grow in popularity for every day items that make it convenient for seniors to use, scammers have seen it as a way to perpetrate crimes. They will call your loved one up and pretend that there is an issue with one of their orders. Once they have gained their trust, they might try to gain personal information about them or even hijack their Amazon account. They will have the items sent to an address that makes it difficult for law enforcement to track. Seniors have, on average, lost nearly double the money that younger adults will. What to tell your loved one: Amazon will communicate via email and to not share any Amazon account details over the phone.
- Gift Card “For A Friend”: We have heard that some scammers will call up aging seniors pretending to be a friend or a family member. They tell them that they are unable to purchase a gift card for some various reason and ask that they purchase it for them. Once the senior has bought the gift card, they ask to read the number on the back to them and then use the card to purchase items. What to tell your loved one: Don’t share any card information over the phone including gift cards and credit cards.
- Pretend Text Alerts: A more and more common phone scam on seniors is sending a text alert pretending to be from a bank or company needing their immediate compliance. It could be clicking a link in the text or replying back with personal information. What to tell your loved one: Avoid clicking links from phone numbers you don’t recognize.
If your loved one is suffering from Alzheimer’s or Dementia, they can especially be vulnerable to these types of scams. You need to have conversations with them but also start gatekeeping communications if you think that they can no longer identify scams like these. It would also be recommended that if your aging loved one has any large amounts of cash at home that you monitor the amount.
