How to Protect Seniors From Identity Theft

Why Seniors Are More Vulnerable to Identity Theft

Criminals target anyone they believe they can swindle out of money or trick into revealing personal information that enables identity theft. Seniors may be more vulnerable to scams than other age groups for reasons including the following:

• Disposable income: Retirees and pensioners with significant savings and investments typically have strong credit standing. Criminals target them in hopes of bilking large sums or using stolen credentials to borrow money or open bogus credit cards with high credit limits.
• Easier access: Because they often spend more time at home than younger generations, seniors can be easier to reach by phone and, increasingly, via laptops, tablets and other smart devices. In fact, seniors’ growing fluency with email, texting, social platforms and interactive sites creates new opportunities for scammers.
• Institutional impersonation: Reliance on Social Security, Medicare, the Veterans Administration and other agencies can make seniors vulnerable to bogus official communications. While criminals still rely on old-school phone scams and mail fraud, they also expertly mimic institutional social accounts, websites and caller ID to make their deception seem legit.
• Sowing confusion: Many scams hinge on inducing panic and persuading victims to act before they think. If an intended victim shows signs of forgetfulness or confusion that can come with age, fraudsters will exploit it to keep them off balance.

Common Senior Identity Theft Scams

The FTC tracks a wide variety of scams, and its 2024 report found older adults (ages 60 and up) are much more likely than younger adults to report losing money on the following types of scams:

• Tech support scam: You receive a phone call or click a text, email or chat message warning of a bogus virus infection on your device. You are then prompted to pay for a nonexistent virus removal service (providing your credit card details in the process) or directed to download a “security update” that truly is a virus, and that crooks can use to steal personal data.
• Sweepstakes or lottery scam: You receive a phony notice that you’ve won a lottery or contest prize—but before you can collect, you’re told you must prepay taxes, processing charges, shipping fees or other costs. Scammers can earn trust by posing as well-known organizations (Publishers Clearing House, the FTC) or official-sounding bogus ones (National Lottery Bureau). They may even direct you to a convincing website or social account, devised to make their lies seem legitimate. Some scammers string victims along for months before disappearing, extracting additional payments as they can.
• Friend or relative impersonation scam: A fraudster calls pretending to be a hysterical friend or grandchild, or perhaps an arresting officer or a paramedic at an accident scene. After briefly describing a crisis, they plead for (or demand) bail money, a credit card to authorize medical treatment or other emergency payments. Before the person thinks to check on the victim in question, they’ve paid the scammer off.
• Government or business imposter scam: Fraudsters reach out to a senior via phone, text, email or social account pretending to be from a trusted business (bank, insurance provider) or government agency (IRS, Social Security Administration, Medicare, Veterans Administration). They tell victims they have unpaid bills or taxes or that government benefits were overpaid and must be paid back. Scammers may threaten arrest, deportation or loss of benefits unless the victim pays up immediately or provides a Social Security number or other credentials they can use to steal the victim’s identity.
• Romance scam: A person you meet online or match with on a dating app wins your trust, claims a sudden financial crisis and accepts your offer of a loan or credit card—then vanishes. Heartbreak and humiliation can hinder reporting of these cases, but there’s no shame in reporting shameless scammers.

Learn more >> Types of Identity Theft and Fraud

How to Protect Your Loved Ones From Identity Theft Scams

Healthy skepticism and greater awareness can help older adults avoid becoming victims of identity theft. Here are some tips to better protect yourself or your loved ones.

Make Loved Ones Aware

Familiarize your loved ones with popular scams by sharing articles like this one. Remind them to question whether an online contact is really who they claim to be, and that government agencies use postal mail for their official communications and never demand immediate payment or threaten to cut off services.

Practice Saying No

Role-play scam scenarios with older loved ones to help them feel comfortable ending unwanted conversations. Make it clear that you’ll be supportive if they are victimized and urge them to report all contacts from scammers, even those that don’t lead to financial loss.

Beware Suspicious Payment Schemes

Many successful scams targeting seniors have involved payment schemes incorporating bank transfers and cryptocurrency, including via crypto-enabled ATMs, according to the FTC. Remind seniors that legitimate business and government agencies never demand payment using crypto or gift cards, and that they should always double-check before authorizing electronic payments.

Encourage Call Screening

Folks who grew up with landline phones may tend to pick up every call, even if they’ve long since switched to mobile devices. Letting calls go to voicemail instead of answering can reduce the likelihood of connecting with scammers, since criminals are unlikely to leave voicemails.

Put Seniors on the No-Call List

Adding your loved one to the Federal Trade Commission’s no-call list eliminates many sales- and marketing-related phone solicitations. Charities and political organizations can still call (as can scammers posing as those groups), but reducing unsolicited-call volume can make it easier for seniors to manage the calls that do get through.

Update Seniors’ Contact Lists

Add or recommend your loved one add phone numbers (and photos) of family members, friends and other frequent contacts (such as their doctor, dentist or bank) to their smartphone address books. This makes it easier for them to tell when they are receiving legitimate calls.

Be a Financial Backstop

If your loved one shows signs of fuzziness that could make it hard for them to recognize or recall a scam, consider assisting with their bill-paying and other financial matters. Monthly video calls or meet-ups can help ensure bills are paid and allows you to check for suspicious expenditures. Over time, it may make sense to become a co-owner on your loved one’s accounts and, eventually, to pay bills on their behalf.

Freeze Credit Reports

Data breaches have exposed Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information for millions of Americans, making it easier for criminals to open bogus loan or credit card accounts in victims’ names. Seniors and all consumers have the right to place a security freeze on their credit reports to limit their use and prevent creation of bogus accounts. Note that seniors will need to unfreeze, or temporarily thaw, their credit reports if they wish to apply for new credit themselves.

Learn more >> How to Check for Identity Theft

What to Do if You or a Loved One Falls Victim to Identity Theft Scams

If you believe you or a loved one is a victim of senior identity fraud, the following steps can help contain the damage:

1. Report it to the FTC. Use the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website to open a case file. The FTC will provide an affidavit, which you can (and should) take to your local police to file a report, and which you can use to set up a victim’s fraud alert on your credit reports, if you wish.
2. Notify government agencies. Let federal and state government agencies such as the IRS and Medicare know that your personal information may be used for fraudulent purposes.
3. Alert the credit bureaus. Notify the national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) that your identity has been stolen and exercise your right to dispute inaccuracies on your credit report. Pay particular attention to new accounts you don’t recognize.
4. Monitor your accounts. Check (and continually re-check) your bank account logs, credit card statements and your credit reports for suspicious or unrecognized activity such as new accounts or unfamiliar transactions.
5. Consider identity theft protection. Identity theft protection services such as those available from Experian can help seniors (and others they designate) track activity on credit reports and other financial accounts. Experian’s free service alerts you to changes in your credit report and score; paid premium subscriptions extend monitoring to the two other national credit bureaus (TransUnion and Equifax) and add additional services such as professional assistance with identity recovery and insurance that can reimburse you for identity theft-related losses.

The Bottom Line

Awareness and vigilance are key to avoiding scams that target seniors, so sharing information with loved ones, inquiring about any unusual solicitations they may be receiving, and taking preventive measures to protect and monitor their financial accounts and credit reports are key. If you’re concerned that a loved one has or could become a victim of senior identity scams, consider enrolling them in identity theft monitoring from Experian, to help detect suspicious activity on their Experian credit report.