How to protect your parents from financial scams

When a scam artist called Cameron Huddleston’s mom, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, to tell her to wire money in order to claim a prize, Huddleston had to intercept the calls. Her mom was convinced she had to wire the money as soon as possible.

“That was a wake-up call for me,” says Huddleston, who lives in Kentucky and is the director of education at Carefull, a service built to protect aging adults' daily finances.

Scam artists often target older adults, partly because they have amassed greater wealth. “Which target will give you the greatest returns: a broke 20-something who is struggling with student loans or a baby boomer with a couple million dollars of retirement assets?” asks Marti DeLiema, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Minnesota.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers age 60 and older filed 467,340 fraud reports in 2021, reporting total losses of more than $1 billion. Overall, consumers age 60 and older are less likely to report losing money to fraud than those age 18-59.

But when they do report a monetary loss, it tends to be for more money — especially among those age 80 and older, who had a median loss of $1,500 on such scams as fake tech support, prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries, and family and friend impersonation.

Here are some steps fraud experts suggest taking to protect your parents and other older adults.

Raise the topic

"We’re all targeted,” Huddleston says. And you can use your own experiences or trending news to put it out there in a way that isn’t condescending.

DeLiema says explaining specific scams — such as a stranger reaching out over social media saying they want to be friends then asking for money, or fake text messages claiming to be a grandchild who needs immediate help — can greatly reduce the chances that someone will fall for them. “If you know about the scam first, you’re 80% less likely to respond,” she says.

Lean on anti-fraud tools

A few simple steps can help avert fraud, such as setting phones to send unknown numbers to voicemail, using a credit freeze, and setting stricter privacy controls on social media, says Amy Nofziger, director of fraud victim support for AARP. “These are things we should all be doing,” she says, adding that you can set this up for yourself at the same time.

It’s also relatively easy to sign up for financial account monitoring or to receive alerts for every transaction, Huddleston says. In some cases, it could make sense to allow adult children to also monitor those accounts, depending on the parents’ comfort level and support needs.

Legal tools such as a durable power of attorney, a guardianship or a revocable trust can be among the most effective ways to keep an older adult’s money safe from scammers, says James Ferraro, a vice president and trust counsel at Argent Trust Company, a wealth management firm headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.

Know the warning signs

If an older adult is suddenly reluctant to talk about finances, has trouble paying for everyday expenses or has a high number of incoming phone calls or text messages, those are all potential signs of fraud, says John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Scammers are adept at creating a false sense of urgency, Breyault says, telling their targets that they must send funds immediately or the Internal Revenue Service or other authorities will come.

If fraud does occur, help the authorities track and prosecute it by reporting it, Nofziger says.

Avoid shaming

The shame and embarrassment people feel when victimized can make a stressful situation worse.

“Lead the conversation with kindness and empathy, not anger or belittlement,” says Nofziger.

Reassuring words that can keep older adults, and their money, safer from scam artists in the future.