Did you know scams targeting people over the age of 60 caused more than $3.4 billion in losses nationwide in 2023? That’s an increase of approximately 11% from the prior year, according to the FBI’s Elder Fraud Report. Protect yourself and your loved ones by delving into this month’s Safer Naper topic: Senior Safety.
Common scams currently targeting the over-60 age group include imposter scams, online shopping, sweepstakes, lotteries, investments, and business and job opportunities.
With all the complicated scams out there that are constantly evolving, it’s important for older adults and their families to stay diligent by learning what scams are out there, how to recognize them, and most importantly, how to avoid falling for them. This month’s Safer Naper campaign will help educate you in these areas, including how to recognize the signs of a scam:
- Pressure to act immediately.
- Pressure to keep information secret.
- Scare tactics.
- Requests for sensitive or personal information.
- Demands for money, typically in a form that is difficult to recover, such as cash, wire transfer, gift card, pay app or cryptocurrency.
- Specific instructions on how to make the financial transaction. These may include a demand to stay on the phone line with the caller while making payment arrangements.
We would also like to draw attention to cryptocurrency scams. Scammers use cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin) because the transactions are irreversible and hard to trace. But remember: Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency! No legitimate business, bank or government agency is going to demand you send a payment in cryptocurrency. So, if someone is demanding cryptocurrency, take that as a red flag of a scam and don’t pay any money!
Learn more and find additional Senior Safety information during the month of September at www.naperville.il.us/asafernaper.
