Scams aimed at older adults have grown fast. The FBI says people 60 and over reported $7.7 billion in losses to online fraud in 2025, about 60% more than the year before. A short conversation and a few settings go a long way.
The scams to know about right now
- Fake bank or government calls. A caller says your money is not safe and must be moved to a “safe account” or turned into cash or gold. The FTC says people lost about $920 million to government impostors in 2025, and fake bank alerts were among the costliest business impostor scams.
- Tech support scams. A pop-up or call says the computer is infected and asks for remote access. The FBI counted $2.1 billion in reported losses to tech and customer support scams in 2025.
- “Grandma, help!” calls. A panicked call from a grandchild who needs money right now. Scammers can now use AI to copy a real voice from short clips posted online.
- Scam texts. Messages about an unpaid toll, a missed package or a locked account, with a link to “fix” it.
Three rules worth putting on the fridge
The FTC's “Never Ever” campaign sums it up. A real government official will never:
- Tell you your money is not safe and that you need to move it to protect it.
- Threaten to stop your benefits unless you pay right away.
- Ask you to pay by gift card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer or payment app.
Only a scammer will. The same goes for banks and tech companies.
Set these up together
- A family code word. Agree on a word that a real family member would know. If an “emergency” caller cannot say it, hang up.
- A hang-up-and-call-back habit. Hang up and call back on a number you already know, such as the one on the back of the bank card. Never use the number the caller gives.
- Spam call and text filtering. Most phones have settings that silence unknown callers or flag likely spam. Turn them on.
- Bank alerts. Set up text or email alerts for large withdrawals and transfers, so a problem gets noticed quickly.
- Two-step sign-in on email and bank accounts.
- A short list of trusted numbers next to the phone: family, the bank, and the person who helps with their computer.
If something already happened
- Stop and do not send any more money, even if the caller says it will fix things.
- Call the bank or card company using the number on the card.
- If someone had remote access to the computer, disconnect it from the internet, change passwords from a different device and have the computer checked.
- Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI at ic3.gov.
Nobody should feel embarrassed. These scams are run by professionals and catch careful, smart people every day.
We can sit down with your parents at their home, set up these protections on their phone and computer, and walk them through what to watch for. See our device protection service. If a pop-up is already on the screen, read what to do right now.