Anyone can be scammed, but older adults tend to be targeted the most, according to the FBI’s most recent annual internet crime report. As a group, seniors lost almost $5 billion last year.
But if you’re a senior scam victim, that doesn’t necessarily mean crooks think you’re feeble-minded. They just think you’re rich.
“The concentration of wealth in the hands of older adults, roughly half of all U.S. wealth, makes them a prime target for financial exploitation,” said Tim Sheehan, CEO and co-founder of Greenlight, a company that offers a debit card for kids but recently came out with a product called Greenlight Family Shield, an app designed to help seniors keep their money safe from scammers. (It’s one of a slew of services designed to protect seniors from financial elder abuse and being conned out of their money. Carefull, Eversafe and True Link Financial are some others.)
If you’re worried about being a target, how can you tell you’re about to be scammed? It’s not easy, according to Joy Loverde, a Chicago-based eldercare consultant and author of books including “The Complete Eldercare Planner, 4th Edition.”
“There are some people who are just really good at acting over the phone, who can make themselves sound like government officials or employees of retail stores,” Loverde said.
