Seniors & Scammers: Three Frauds They Need Protection From

Established in 2018, Surfshark is a Netherlands-based popular, fast, and secure Virtual Private Network. They are best known for allowing unlimited simultaneous device connections, offering top-tier encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and numerous advanced features. In 2025, a report was issued stating that 142.9 million U.S. residents had their accounts compromised. Globally, the United States ranks number one in cyber theft. While all of us are subject to identity theft and fraud, seniors are among the most vulnerable. If you are a senior or are concerned for older family members or friends, you need to know how to prevent elder financial abuse.

Let us take a moment to look at the three most prevalent forms of fraud deployed against seniors so we can spot red flags and defend ourselves and others from predatory individuals.

The imposter scam

Scammers impersonate someone else to trick seniors into transferring money or providing personal information. Scammers will call and take on the role of an authority figure in order to gain the trust of the victim. Typically, they will present themselves to the police, a religious leader, the IRS or other government agencies, a debt collector, or an employer. Imposter scams can be elaborate and often involve multiple swindlers. Often, one scammer will present themselves as a lower-level employee who will transfer the victim to another scammer who is posing as a manager. This is done to give the appearance of legitimacy.

 Another common imposter scam is when a defrauder takes on the role of tech support personnel. In this scenario, they are attempting to lure the senior into unwittingly installing malware on their computers or to get them to share their screen to steal personal information.

The grandparent scam

This variant of the imposter scam targets older adults by claiming that a child or grandchild needs help. Scammers create a sense of urgency by stating that the child or grandchild is having an emergency (often stating they have had an accident or have been arrested) and that they need money immediately.

Scammers frequently use personal information to help make their attacks more effective. Experts we spoke with said there are instances of scammers calling their targets and using AI-generated voices, which are sometimes based on the voices of actual family members. Scammers may be building the models using snippets of audio from a child’s or a grandchild’s social media accounts. In addition, they may scour public records looking for names, ages, and addresses of family members.

The romance scam

Romance scams are particularly disturbing because they extract some of the heaviest financial and emotional tolls, and they often play out over long periods of time. The goal is to establish a deep personal relationship, based on trust, with the senior victim long before asking for money. These scenarios will start with the victim receiving a text message that was sent “accidentally” and/or includes a photo of an attractive young person. They may also get a text from an unknown number asking what the potential victim is up to.

Long-term scams do not necessarily need to be romantic. A scammer might take on the role of a financial wiz, offering investment opportunities that invariably flow back to the scammer. These scams can be devastating to older adults as well. According to an FBI internet crime report, in 2024 alone, a total of $1,834,242,515 was lost in investment scams and $389,312,356 in confidence/romance scams by victims who were over age 60.

Understanding elder financial abuse is key to protecting seniors from scams that can have a serious emotional and financial impact that can last for years.