Stay Safe

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), older adults over the age of 60 lost over $1.9 billion to scams and fraud in 2023, and that’s only a fraction of the overall losses experienced.  A vast majority of the incidences of fraud for older adults 60+ are not reported and the cost to consumers is estimated to be as high as $61.5 billion dollars.  While we are all more informed and aware about fraud, the scammers are unfortunately two steps ahead of us and have fine-tuned their craft to employ new methods and technologies to snare even the most skeptical consumers into their fraudulent schemes.  It is now more important than ever to employ best practices to build a foundation to beat back the scammers at their own game, hold onto your hard-earned dollars, and report any incidences of fraud.  Here are some basic tips, as well as resources that offer additional information and tools.

5 Tips to Stay Safe from Scams and Fraud

  1. Employ Healthy Skepticism:  Look carefully at every unsolicited text and email that you receive and double-check the source.  Know that your financial institutions, government agencies, retailers, and other entities you may do business with won’t contact you by text or email to request that you submit personal information without your prior knowledge and consent. 

  2. Maintain a List of Purchases:  During a busy online purchasing season, maintain a list of purchase and the online retailer to double-check just in case there are any questions related to the receipt and shipment of your purchase.

  3. Understand the online shopping “Best Practices:” It’s helpful to get a refresher on the basics regarding the safety guidelines for online purchasing.  For example: always use a credit card for your purchases, and don’t click on or open a suspicious link (particularly those emails from a “friend with messages such as, “hey, check out this great photo”!).

  4. Stay aware of the Latest Scams:  Stay current with the latest scams from sources such as the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. (check the links below). 

  5. Report, Report, Report!  It’s important to report any incidence of a scam or fraud. You are not alone, there is no shame in getting scammed, and it happens to the even most savvy of consumers.  For law enforcement to help break these scam networks and help stop the bad guys, it’s critically important that they receive reports on each occurrence of a scam/fraud, regardless of the type of scam or the monetary loss to the individual consumer.  Every scam that occurs is a crime!  Reporting any incidence of scams/fraud to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report fraud and sharing as much as possible about the experience will help build a safer and more trustworthy online environment for everyone.

Learn More

Resources & More Tips and Tools

Federal Communications Commission, www.fcc.gov, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts

Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov, Consumer Advice on Scams

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Institute for Marketplace Trust www.BBBMarketplaceTrust.org

BBB Institute’s research on scam trends BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report based on reports submitted to BBB Scam Tracker

Amazon Monthly Consumer Alerts on Top Scams Amazon’s latest alert

AARP, Fraud Watch Network Helpline

Senate Committee on Aging, Tools to Protect You and Your Loved Ones from Scams

National Consumers League (NCL) https://nclnet.org/our-work/fraud-prevention/

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Guide on AI Scams