How to Avoid Elder Financial Abuse

Common scams against older people include investment and romance scams, impersonations of loved ones or financial institutions, and fake ads for tech services and health products. Unfortunately, AI is making these scams even harder to spot through spoofing, fake audio and video, and more sophisticated schemes.

Here are some simple ways that seniors and their families can set up a safety framework to help avoid fraud and scams.

Set Alerts on Accounts

An easy first step is to set alerts on credit union and bank accounts, credit card accounts, and any other financial service account to immediately alert about activity and transactions through text or email. This helps detect any suspicious activity in real-time. Also, set up a schedule to regularly go over financial statements.

Set up alerts on SAFE credit and debit cards.

Set up alerts on SAFE checking and savings accounts.

Consider a Credit Freeze

Setting a credit, or security, freeze through the three major credit reporting agencies can keep others from accessing your credit reports and deter scammers from taking out new loans or credit cards in your name. If you want to take out a loan or apply for a new credit card, simply lift the freeze. You can also set up fraud alerts with all three agencies that will alert you to fraud as well as require creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before opening new accounts or changing current ones.

EQUIFAX
- Security Freeze (800) 685-1111
- Place a fraud alert (888) 766-0008
EXPERIAN
- Security Freeze (888) 397-3742
- Place a fraud alert (888) 397-3742
TRANSUNION
- Credit Freeze (800) 680-7289
- Place a fraud alert (888) 909-8872

Payment in Gift or Cash Cards is Huge Red Flag

If you’re asked to make payment by using gift or cash cards, know that it is almost always a scam. No merchant, government agency, or utility will ever ask that you make a purchase using gift cards. If you’re asked to do that, disconnect from the scammer immediately.

Be Skeptical

As scammers start to use AI, it’s more important than ever to keep a skeptical mindset. Scammers will try to create a sense of urgency and try to maintain control by telling you not to hang up or tell anyone else what is going on. All those are red flags. Here are some other tips:

If someone contacts you saying they are from your financial institution, hang up or don’t respond to the text. Instead, call the number on the back of your debit card and confirm whether the issue is real. Keep in mind that scammers can spoof your financial institution’s contact information, including phone number and text string identifier.
If an offer or claim sounds too good to be true, it’s a scam. Be wary of unusually low prices for tickets or goods, “miraculous” health claims, passive income schemes, and unrealistic investment returns.
Be especially wary of personal scams, such as scammers impersonating a loved one or romance scams. If someone contacts you claiming to be a family member or friend in trouble, disengage and call the person at the contact information you know to be true.

Get a Second Opinion

Before you make a financial decision or act on an urgent request by a stranger reaching out to you, take the time to ask a person you trust to get their input. First, this helps you disengage from the scammer, and by talking it over with someone you trust you’re more likely to see that it’s a scam. You can also search online to see whether the claims you’re seeing or the situation you’re experiencing is a scam.

SAFE is here to help members keep their money safe and secure. Stop by a branch or call or chat with us to find other ways we can help you and the older people in your life avoid financial fraud.

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