What To Do If Your Elderly Parent Is Being Scammed

What Can You Do If a Family Member Is Being Scammed?

The combination of their large savings and retirement funds, being overly trusting, and having lower technological-savviness make elderly Americans prime targets for scammers. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

Last year, Americans over the age of 60 accounted for 36% of all scam victims, with projected losses totaling more than $2.2 billion.

For people with elderly family members, this level of vulnerability can be incredibly stressful. But there are steps you can take if you think your parent or other family members are being scammed, including: 

• Address the scam with empathy. Start conversations from a place of understanding and support. This approach helps overcome shame or embarrassment that might prevent victims from accepting help.
• Record evidence. Save emails, text messages, and details of suspicious transactions. Having a clear record strengthens your case when reporting to authorities and helps prevent future fraud attempts.
• Break off contact with the fraudsters. Help your family members block scammer phone numbers, emails, and social media accounts in order to prevent further manipulation and financial losses.
• Report the scam to the proper authorities. File reports with the FTC and, if applicable, the local police. Official documentation improves the chances of recovering lost money and helps protect others.
• Help them recover and prevent future scams. Set up identity theft monitoring and fraud alerts on their accounts. Taking these protective steps rebuilds their financial security and peace of mind.

While these basic steps can help you minimize the damage if your family member becomes a victim of a scam, there’s more you can do to keep your elderly parents and other loved ones safe. 

7 Warning Signs of Elder Fraud

Fraudsters are only getting more sophisticated with their scams by using artificial intelligence (AI) voices to impersonate family members and devising elaborate tech support and romance scams. These convincing tactics put older adults at serious risk of falling victim to a wide range of schemes. 

As a concerned family member, one of the best things you can do is understand the warning signs of common scams. Here are some basic red flags: 

• Unusual financial activity. Large withdrawals or transfers from accounts could signal financial manipulation. Missing statements, new credit cards, or unpaid bills despite having sufficient funds are red flags that require immediate attention.
• The sudden appearance of new "friends" or helpers. Scammers often pose as caring friends, home care professionals, or romantic interests to gain trust. Be especially cautious of relationships that start online or seem to progress unusually quickly.
• Hesitation to talk about online activities. An elderly person who becomes secretive about internet use or defensive about online relationships may be embarrassed about some unfortunate interaction, such as fraud.
• Hiding or showing fear about phone calls, texts, and emails. Anxiety or stress when receiving communications could indicate harassment from persistent scammers targeting your loved ones.
• Changes in spending habits. Sudden interest in cryptocurrencies, wire transfers, or gift card purchases may indicate your aging parents have been lured into a scam.
• Social withdrawal. Fraudsters frequently isolate their victims from family members who might recognize the scam. Take note if your family member begins avoiding social connections, in-person events, or family gatherings.
• Uncharacteristic financial choices. Quick decisions about investments, opening new accounts, or needing to make urgent money transfers that seem out of character for your parents or grandparents all deserve closer scrutiny.

What To Do If Your Elderly Family Member Falls For a Scam

Keeping your elderly family members safe is a difficult job, especially if they have any age-related mental health issues like Alzheimer's disease. 

While it’s important to take action quickly, make sure you’re approaching the situation with sensitivity for their emotional well-being as well as their safety. 

1. Confront the situation — but don’t judge

Victims of identity theft often feel vulnerable and embarrassed, especially if they are “old enough to know better.” 

Be patient, and let your family members explain what happened at their own pace without pressuring them or making judgments. 

Describing related news stories about scams can also show how easy it is to fall victim, and lets them know they’re not alone. 

📚 Related: Online Safety Tips for Seniors: How To Stay Safe Online → 

2. Freeze their credit files with all three major bureaus

Once you confirm that your elderly parent is being scammed, the first action step is to freeze their credit. A credit freeze offers strong protection against fraud, as it prevents anyone from getting access to their credit files to make changes or open new lines of credit. 

You can place a credit freeze on your parent’s files if you provide the bureaus with essential information, including proof that you have power of attorney to act on your parent’s behalf. 

Here’s what to do:

• Equifax: Complete an Incapacitated Adult Freeze Request Form
• Experian: Discuss power of attorney with your loved one first
• TransUnion: Place a Protected Consumer Freeze

If you don’t have the required documents or Power of Attorney, your parent will need to contact each of the three bureaus individually to place a freeze. 

Here’s how to contact the credit reporting agencies:

Remember: Credit freezes last until you lift them. Each bureau will supply you with a PIN you can use to “thaw” your parent’s credit file later. 

3. Update passwords, and secure all accounts

After a family member has been scammed, it’s important to cut off the scammers’ access to your loved one’s online accounts — especially email, social media, and financial accounts. 

Here’s how to secure their accounts:

• Take stock of compromised accounts. Ask them which passwords or accounts have been hacked, and then run a free Dark Web scan to see if more accounts or data are at risk.
• Create unique and strong passwords for every account by combining uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.  
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) with an authenticator app, like Authy or Google Authenticator. 
• Install a password manager to keep login credentials encrypted. These apps make it easier to create and store unique login credentials for every account. 

📚 Related: 7 Ways Hackers Steal Your Passwords (And How To Stop Them) → 

4. Contact your family member’s financial institutions

If you think your elderly parent’s identity has been stolen, you must notify financial institutions immediately, as their bank accounts may be at risk. 

Card issuers can block access to savings and investment accounts and cancel compromised cards. To start, help your parents contact the bank by calling the phone number on the back of their debit card or credit card. 

You can sit in on the call, guiding them to ask to speak to the fraud department and relay the details of the fraud.

Here's how to contact most major U.S. credit card companies:

• Visa: 1-800-847-2911
• Mastercard: 1-800-627-8372 (1-800-MASTERCARD)
• Chase: 1-800-432-3117
• Capital One: 1-800-227-4825 (1-800-CAPITAL)
• Citibank: 1-800-950-5114
• Bank of America: 1-800-732-9194
• Discover: 1-800-347-2683 (1-800-DISCOVER)
• American Express: 1-800-528-4800

📚 Related: The Best Identity Theft Protection for Seniors: 7 Options → 

5. Collect evidence before breaking off contact with the scammer

If you alert the scammers that you’re on to them, they could delete incriminating information. It’s important to collect as much evidence as possible before you end communications, while also keeping your family members safe. 

Here’s what to do:

• Save all communications. Text messages, emails, and online chat logs are useful proof that can help you reverse fraudulent charges with vendors and financial institutions. Back up everything in a secure folder in your cloud storage. 
• Inspect account statements for signs of fraud. Take note of all unauthorized or unfamiliar transactions — including dates, times, amounts, and vendors. Also, don't ignore small charges, as thieves test stolen credit card numbers by making small purchases before trying to max out the credit lines.
• Block the scammers. After you have saved everything, block the scammers on all channels, including their phone numbers, email addresses, and social media profiles. 

💡 Pro tip: Edit the privacy settings on your elderly family member’s social media accounts to stop more scammers from finding them. Learn more about Social Media Security.

6. Report the fraud to the proper authorities

Once you have gathered evidence about the scam, you can file an official report with the proper authorities. This step can help your parents restore their identities, and they may even recover their lost funds.

For general scams and fraud reports:

• Report internet, phone, and email scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Include your identity information and as many details as possible. The FTC will provide you with an official Identity Theft Affidavit as well as a personalized recovery plan.
• Report mail scams to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and tax scams to the IRS.

For issues with financial caregivers:

• Contact your local Social Security office or call 800-772-1213 if you suspect the misuse of Social Security benefits.
• Contact the office of Veterans Affairs (VA) if you suspect misuse of veteran benefits.
• If you suspect that money or property is being misused by a court-appointed guardian, contact that specific court.

If you suspect elder financial abuse:

• Elder financial abuse can sometimes involve other crimes such as theft, forgery, or money laundering. Visit or contact your local police department to make an official police report. You’ll be asked to provide your FTC affidavit and all supporting evidence.
• Report the abuse to Adult Protective Services (APS) by using a local APS.
• If you intend to prosecute the abuser, report the incident to your local District Attorney's office.

For non-life-threatening emergencies:

• Submit an online report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.
• Report to the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 or the Eldercare Locator helpline at 1-800-677-1116.

7. Come up with a plan to prevent future scams

Encourage family members to read articles or watch videos to help understand the warning signs of common scams. A good strategy is to agree on a simple protocol that they can follow if they spot red flags.

For example, your parents could agree to:

• Ignore phone calls or text messages from unknown numbers
• Contact you if they notice suspicious activity on any accounts
• Tell you if they end up in conversation with a suspicious person or new friend online
• Block anyone who tries to get them to send money, buy gift cards, or join cryptocurrency platforms 

Nasdaq’s 2024 Global Financial Crime Report revealed that $77.7 billion of all reported global fraud was linked to elderly victims [*]. The threat of elder fraud isn’t going away, so you must help your elderly parents prepare for the inevitable. 

📚 Related: 12 Scams Targeting Seniors & How To Protect Your Loved Ones → 

8. Consider a full-family online protection plan

Open discussion about fraud and a proactive approach can help make your parents feel safer — but it’s almost impossible to track everything that occurs across all their accounts, devices, and online activities. Even if your parents agree to work as a team, you might miss something.

Signing up for a dedicated digital security service is the best way to combat elder scams, giving you round-the-clock protection for all financial accounts, social media profiles, and devices.

How To Keep Seniors Safe Online and In Real Life

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to identify when an elderly family member is being scammed, as many older people are hesitant to discuss being scammed out of fear of being judged or treated condescendingly. 

A proactive approach makes a difference. Here are six basic protective steps you can take to help your elderly family members stay safe online:

• Check in regularly. Keep communication going, so that it’s easier for your parents to open up about any issues online or in person. This is important whether they live with you, independently, or in an assisted living situation. 
• Help clean up their cyber hygiene. Your parents could have decades of data circulating online, most likely poorly protected with old passwords. Guide them through the process of minimizing their digital footprints to improve their online safety. 
• Make sure they’re using strong passwords and multi- or two-factor authentication (2FA). As the first line of defense, it’s critical to make sure they are using best practices for passwords. 
• Set up fraud alerts with your bank or identity theft protection provider. While not as robust as a credit freeze, a fraud alert can send notifications about suspicious activity detected in your parents’ financial accounts. 
• Come up with a family password. An agreed code word can help confirm that your elderly family members are communicating with someone they know and not an imposter. 
• Suggest that they add your name and contact information to sensitive accounts. Chat with your parents about becoming an authorized contact with their financial institutions or setting yourself up as a backup for their online accounts. This way, you can have access to their accounts in order to watch out for warning signs. 
• Get power of attorney. If your parents are unable to protect themselves and their accounts for any reason — such as health or technical challenges — taking power of attorney over their estate and assets may be the safest option. 

Offering peace of mind and a robust online security solution, Identity Guard provides 24/7 protection for your entire family. Identity Guard monitors the Dark Web and data breaches for leaked passwords and sensitive information, covers all linked bank accounts, credit reports, and investment accounts, and sends near real-time fraud alerts to help you detect risks quickly. 

Your family members also receive up to $1 million in identity theft insurance to cover losses and legal fees, plus round-the-clock access to U.S.-based White Glove Fraud Resolution specialists to help navigate every step of the recovery process.

Identity Guard gives you and your family peace of mind — save 50% when you sign up today.