Avoiding Senior Financial Scams During Older Americans Month 

Every May, we celebrate Older Americans Month to honor the contributions of seniors and provide support to elder individuals in our communities. With senior financial scams on the rise, we’re marking Older Americans Month this month by sharing tips and tricks to help seniors avoid fraud and scams.

According to Federal Trade Commission data, older adults lost nearly $2 billion to fraud in 2023.

Below are some common senior financial scams to be on the lookout for, as well as tips to protect yourselves and loved ones from falling victim to these scams:

Grandparent Scams
A grandparent scam often involves fraudsters reaching out to grandparents or older adults and pretending to be loved ones in a troublesome situation. They will often impersonate a grandchild or family member and pretend to be in a dire financial situation, such as being stuck in a foreign country or in jail under arrest.

The scammer will urgently press a grandparent or older family member to send money quickly, often by wire transfer or gift card, playing on the emotions of the situation. Other scammers pretend to be people of authority, like police officers or mechanics, reaching out to collect money on the younger family member’s behalf.

The best way to avoid grandparent scams is to reach out directly to your grandchild or family member to confirm the information is accurate before sending money or financial information. If your loved one is unavailable or unreachable, try contacting their parent, spouse or sibling to fact-check the information being provided. Do not send money, gift cards, or money orders before first confirming the accuracy of the story.

Tech Support Scams
Tech support scams usually involve older Americans receiving an email, phone call or a pop-up on their computer asking them to call a phone number urgently to fix a virus or make a critical update to their computer. The scammer will often ask for remote access to the computer and either use that access to steal valuable financial information or demand payment for “fixing” the issue.

Avoid tech support scams by running a scan of your computer’s security software or by reaching out to a trusted, verified tech support company to verify there is an issue with your computer or technology.

If someone is proactively offering tech support to you or an elder loved one without you reaching out first, it’s likely a scam.

Sweetheart Scams
With more older adults turning to online dating, fraudsters are creating fake profiles to try and trick victims into romantic relationships and then scam them out of their hard-earned money. Scammers will often use fake photos or appeal to the victim’s emotions to make them fall in love and then pretend to need money quickly for emergencies or to travel to visit their victims.

Avoid sweetheart scams by asking to speak to a potential partner over the phone or on video to confirm their identity. Ask to meet in-person before giving away any money or sending gifts.  

Avoiding Sweetheart Scams

With Valentine’s Day approaching, love is in the air.

And while getting hit by Cupid’s arrow can often feel new and exciting, it’s important to be wary of a fairy tale romance that turns out to be too good to be true.

 Sweetheart or romance scams are on the rise, which involve scammers pursuing romantic relationships with their victims with the sole purpose of stealing their hard-earned money. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost nearly $550 million to sweetheart scams in 2021, up 80 percent from 2020.

At Millstream Area Credit Union, we’re here to help you protect your finances and protect you from fraudsters who want to leave you and your credit union account broken-hearted.

Signs of a sweetheart scam

Sweetheart scams overwhelmingly take place online, where scammers can manipulate information to make the situation appear much different than reality. And while perpetrators of sweetheart scams may have names and profile pictures attached to their accounts, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re being truthful in how they’re presenting themselves.

Scammers often feature attractive photos on their profiles to lure you in, and usually move quickly and say all the right things to make their victims feel a sense of attachment right away. They typically give an excuse for not being able to meet in person and say they’re working in a profession that often requires travelling for work, i.e., the military, construction, or an overseas student.

Once they establish a romantic and emotional connection with their victim, they’ll often ask for money to cover the cost of an unexpected emergency, such as a car repair, travel expenses, or a phone or internet bill to maintain the connection.

Scammers can start with a small financial ask and then continue to ask for more money gradually or they can ask for a large sum right away and press for urgent action. They’ll often ask for payment through non-traditional methods, such as gift cards or wire transfers.

How to protect yourself

Always request to meet potential romantic matches in person in a public place or via video, especially before sharing any personal or financial information. If the person refuses, especially multiple times, you’ll likely know something is fishy.

A good rule of thumb is that if something feels too good to be true, it usually is. You can run the situation by a friend or loved one and get their advice. You can also search for their name and 'scam' online to see if any results appear, or run a reverse image search to determine the origin of their profile picture.

Even if the person you’re talking to online is pressuring you or sharing a sympathetic story, you should never feel pressured to send money or share your personal financial information. If the person you’ve connected with is in it for the right reasons, they’ll never pressure you to give them money.

If you’ve already sent money or someone has your financial information, be sure to inform your credit union and any other financial institution right away and shut off the funds to the would-be scammer.

Seniors beware

In recent years, fraudsters have increasingly targeted seniors for sweetheart scams due to factors ranging from robust retirement accounts to a higher likelihood of living alone. According to the FBI, 6,700 people over the age of 60 lost more than $350 million to sweetheart scams in 2023.

If you’re a senior and feel like you may be a victim of a sweetheart scam, contact a friend, loved one, or your financial institution right away and cut off all contact with the suspected scammer.

We’re here to help

If you have questions about your financial well-being or if something doesn’t feel quite right, give us a call or visit a local branch today. We’re here to help make sure you and your hard-earned money are well protected. 

Beware of Gift Card Scams this Holiday Season

Gift cards are a common go-to gift idea for many Ohioans each year. In fact, according to a recent national survey, 44% of consumers said they expect to give a gift card as a present this holiday season.

If gift cards are on your holiday shopping list, the Division of Financial Institutions is sharing tips to help keep you safe from scams that are becoming more common.

• Only purchase gift cards from reputable sources, such as a restaurant or store itself or a larger chain that offers gift cards, such as popular grocery stores or drug stores.
• Always inspect gift cards before purchasing them to ensure the card itself nor its packaging have been bent or altered in any way.
• Avoid purchasing gift cards from third-party sources, such as online auctions, since it may be difficult to verify whether those cards still contain all or any funds.
• Maintain copies of receipts since those can be helpful in the event a scam occurs.

Keeping Your Account Safe This Holiday Season

Holiday Spending is certainly something that is on everyone's mind right now. What you may not be thinking about are all of potential security risks involved with Holiday shopping.

Here are some common holiday-themed scams, and tips to avoid them, that Betty Lin-Fisher at USA Today put together. These come from a variety of sources, including Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, BMO, Feedzai, a company that helps financial institutions manage their fraud and BioCatch, a company that works with banks to protect their customers from fraud and scams:

◾ The “it” toy scam: Scammers target emotions and frazzled parents trying to get the hottest toy with fake links. Make sure you are interacting with a reputable retailer and not clicking on unsolicited emails, said Alvarez with Wells Fargo.

◾ Fake package notifications: Be careful of clicking on an unsolicited text or email pretending to be from a legitimate company to "track" your package or help with a "lost" package.

◾ Fake charities: Scammers know people are generous at the end of the year with charitable giving. Research the charity to ensure you are donating to a legitimate cause, according to Wells Fargo.

◾ Holiday/seasonal job scams: There's a rise in part-time work during the holidays to make some extra cash. But scammers also make up fake jobs to get your money and personal information, according to Wells Fargo.  

◾ Beware of gift card scams: Be careful of buying gift cards from third-party sites, said Chase Bank. Scammers will pre-save card details or sell expired cards. Don't answer unsolicited emails or text messages offering you a gift card; it could be a way to track your online activity.

◾ Watch for unsolicited “friendly” messages on social apps: Scammers first try to hook you by starting a friendly conversation and then asking for money once they earn your trust, said Chase Bank. Be careful of accepting requests from contacts you don't know and never send money.

◾ Deals that are too good to be true: Scammers will lure shoppers with deeply discounted prices or offers that are simply unbelievable, according to Feedzai. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research and compare prices from different retailers before making a purchase.

◾ Double-check the website: Scammers often create fake websites that look just like legitimate online stores, according to Feedzai. Triple-check the URL web address for a slight variation in the spelling of a popular website. Look for a padlock icon on the address bar and check for "https" to indicate a secure connection.

◾ Use a secure payment method: Whenever possible, use a credit card for online purchases, said Feedzai. Credit cards offer more protection against fraud than debit cards or peer-to-peer payment apps.

◾ Be skeptical of product reviews and testimonials: Artificial intelligence can be used to create fake reviews and testimonials. Do your own research and look for reviews from trusted sources, said Feedzai. 

◾ Payment app scams: Scams involving payment apps run all year long, according to BioCatch, but the volume is expected to increase during the holiday season. Most of these scams start with a call from someone pretending to be your bank or credit card company, saying there has been fraud detected on your account. They'll try to get you to transfer the money to an account to "protect" it, but it's actually an account for the scammer.