2023 EP0826 | Financial Updates | Top Tricks Used To Scam Older Adults ( And How To Spot Them)

We want you to plan for success. Welcome to Planning Matters Radio.

Peter, good to see you. We have another really important topic to discuss. We want to talk through the top tricks used to scam older adults and how to spot them. Scams targeting older adults are on the rise, of course.

In 2021, there were 93,000 victims scammed out of $1.7 billion. In a recent report from the BBB, romance scams continue to be the riskiest scams for people 55 to 64. So we want to talk through some potential scams.

But first, this one's kind of straightforward. Watch out for phone fraud. These scams are more than just clicking on like a bogus email, right?

Yeah. And clicking on bogus emails or links within your computer can obviously have some serious security, vulnerability, repercussions. But they can reach out and touch you right over the phone. And it's actually where a lot of these start is with a phone call that may look on the surface level perfectly legitimate. I mean, we've got spoofing capabilities where they call from a number that looks like it's your bank or your credit card company or the IRS or or even a relative.

Or at least it looks like a local legitimate number. And some technology is there where cell phones have been able to begin to identify possible fraud or scam call. But it doesn't happen every time. And that technology is not perfect. And then when something's figured out, the scammers always seem to figure out a way around it. So just be very vigilant.

It's really scary with the technology. And unfortunately, a lot of people, obviously, from from those stats you read Aaron fall for these. And it's not just older adults, but older adults do seem to be a pretty prevalent target. Right. And that's not a dig on people who fall for it either.

These scammers are really good at making you believe them. So next, we want to say, do your research before making an investment. Older adults are often targeted because of their greater financial resources. That makes sense. Yeah.

Yeah. To to to that point, I mean, there's more money available there very often. And so they become a more prevalent target of these. And I would say not only because of the amount of assets, but also because maybe older adults especially are not quite as savvy in looking for or understanding how to recognize what could be a fraudulent link. There are ways that you can at least do a little bit of of verification before you click on anything.

And you should always kind of hover over it and make sure that the actual link it's going to is where it's stated. But yeah, just because there there may be a little bit of catch up time there in older senior potential victims. That's that's where they tend to target.

Plus, it's a bigger, bigger pot of money typically. So if you if you catch one in the net, usually it nets more for the scammer, unfortunately. And now let's talk about those sweetheart swindles.

Older adults who are widowed or divorced are frequent targets of this scam. Yeah. Well, we all long for that connection. Right. And unfortunately, the fraudsters know that. And so they target people. And for those that have been widowed or divorced, sometimes there's record of those things.

So some of the information could be out there making it a little easier to target those individuals. Plus, we know that they don't have that connection. Rule of thumb, though, if you can't physically see or and touch your new sweetheart, Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful, and by the way, both sides of this do happen, then don't send them any money. And even if you can be very cautious because these sweetheart swindles can happen in person as well. And you wanted to make sure people know it's OK to ask for help or even a second opinion. One third of elderly people who've been scammed are too ashamed to tell anyone. Yeah.

And that's after the fact they they are embarrassed that they have fallen victim, which is unfortunate, but equally like. Reach out ahead of time if we can. That would be even better just to verify, hey, does this sound like it's on the up and up?

Does this appear to be legitimate? Right. And the famous one is like the Nigerian prince or lottery winner. Right.

And I think most people understand that that one has sort of played out, but there's a different variation of that every day. People still fall for that one. But be cautious. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Nobody's sending money for free. If you've got that sweetheart romance, love of your life that is asking for money before you're even meeting them in person, even if you've been talking with them and communicating them with them for years on online or however, just be be very cautious ahead of time.

Ask your trusted circle, your friends, your your family, your relatives, whoever. There are even like helplines that you can call to verify. Does this sound legitimate?

Is this possible fraud or not? And it would be absolutely better to do that beforehand rather than after the fact. But even after the fact, people seem to be a little ashamed or embarrassed once they know that they've been scammed to let anybody know about it. And there may be recourses where at least some of that it's possible that it could be recouped. Not every time, unfortunately. But there are sometimes opportunities to to take action or or have some of those funds recouped.

So don't be too ashamed or embarrassed to reach out because your story may help others as well. Right. Even when those cameras are trying to create that false sense of urgency or immediacy, like a loved one is in danger or you need money to help this person, still better to press pause. Yep.

Yeah. And find that back back up and verify. Call other family members, hang up and call the person that sounds like they're in danger with the deep fakes, the ability to recreate voices and or even videos these days. It is scary how savvy some of these fraud attempts have become. But if you hang up, if you think it's a call from your bank or the IRS or your credit card company, hang up, call the number directly on the back of the car, call them and verify. Just like you would if you think it's that relative or loved one that's in in danger.

Hang up and try calling them back to see if they are in that situation that that you're hearing about. All kinds of creative ways. And we just need to have a little due diligence and verify, unfortunately, in this world. And perhaps most important, guard your personal information very carefully. Yeah, of course.

Of course. Now, that's in this world becoming a little bit more difficult with with these broad spread corporate hacks that have happened, data breaches and where your personal information as a result of an attack on whatever company X, Y, Z has now been compromised. And the typical response is that company X, Y, Z provides one year of identity theft protection or or what have you. Well, once your information is out there, it could be out there forever and ever. So you have to continue to be vigilant and safeguard and protect against that. So, you know, putting a freeze on the credit really is probably a good idea for anyone that doesn't foresee having to need credit in the very, very immediate future or establishing new new lines of credit.

Go ahead and put a freeze on it is is just one step. And I, I encourage people to pull at least one credit report per year. You can actually pull one for free per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies. So you can stagger them and pull them at different times in the year and really they share information. So you you get three free draws each year to make sure that your credit's looking good. And that's also, by the way, something that's good to do if you lose a family member after the fact.

Go ahead and try to pull their report to see what they have, because unfortunately, we've we've found that there have been open lines of credit that we didn't know about with relatives that have passed as well. Right. So important to cover these topics. And just again, the scammers, this is their business. They're very good at it. So we have to be vigilant.

Really good advice, Peter. And they don't need to have it work with a high success rate. Just one. They'll try it hundreds of thousands of times. And if they can get just one on the line, it ends up being profitable.

And I follow a couple of social media accounts of people who specifically try to attack the fraud centers, the call centers, and the amount of money that they are raking in off of these is just astronomically unbelievable and really, really sad and disheartening. Right. Right. Peter, if somebody would like to talk to you about anything we've covered, what's the best way to reach you? Yeah. Reach out.

Be in touch. Nine one nine three hundred five eight eight six nine one nine three hundred five eight eight six as a financial advisor, planner, investment manager, retirement planner. Obviously, protection from fraud is is not our chief duty or responsibility, but we take all of the safeguards possible for our clients to protect their information so that this doesn't happen and have served as a sounding board when they have had things come up. Does this sound legit?

Is this an opportunity or is this something I need to be aware of? But, you know, putting that plan together is important. Making sure that you've got a good plan in place. And then, of course, taking the steps to protect yourselves, your family, your loved ones, personal information and against fraud.

Also very, very important. So give us a call. Nine one nine three hundred five eight eight six. Or you can visit online. Rashan planning dot com.

It looks like rich on planning dot com. My last name, Peter Rashan. All right, Peter, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. Always a pleasure and very important topic.

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