Scammers use social media against seniors
People 50 and older are now the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook, and many of them are jumping in without taking precautions. Their Facebook page is often an open book when it comes to personal information. Credit: iStock
There are few new frauds targeting seniors. That's because the old ones are working better than ever.
The notorious "grandparent scam" is an example. In this long-running con, a scam artist cold-calls until someone who sounds like a grandparent answers the phone. The con artist identifies himself as "your grandson" and says he's in trouble and needs money. But the scam works only if the grandparent volunteers information, because the caller doesn't actually know the grandchild's name -- or if the person who has been called even has any grandchildren.
But in this digital age of social media, grandparents can become even more vulnerable to the scam. People 50 and older are now the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook, and many of them are jumping in without taking precautions. Their Facebook page is often an open book when it comes to personal information.
Luke Reynolds, chief of consumer outreach for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), says when an older person proudly posts photos of grandchildren along with their names, this is giving inside information to scammers.
If there are links to the grandchild's page, there may be more information to glean. "They might see where the grandchild is or planning to be," Reynolds says. "Then they can call the grandparent and say they are stranded." Because the con artist knows the name of the grandchild, grandparents are more apt to fall for the scam, Reynolds says. One way to avoid having information misused by con artists is to set Facebook's privacy settings to limit access to friends and family.
The FDIC, which protects depositors against bank losses and educates consumers about scams, says that emails are another way older people can be taken for their money. If they're new to computers, they can be fooled by bogus emails that look as if they came from a bank or a government agency.
Typically, these emails ask for bank account information or Social Security numbers. One giveaway that it's a scam is if your name is not in the body of the email. When your bank sends you an email, it will address you by name. In scam emails, the salutation often just says "account holder" or "customer." Do not click (or open) any links in these emails.
In the past, these emails were loaded with grammatical and typographical errors that made them easy to spot, says Mike Benardo, the FDIC's chief of cyber fraud and financial crimes. But that has changed. "Some of them are pretty convincing," Benardo says. "The bad guys have gotten really good at them over time."
