How to Protect Elderly Parents from Scams

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data shows that Americans above the age of 60 lost over $3.4 billion to scams during one particular year. With June now recognized as Elder Abuse Awareness Month, and World Elder Abuse Awareness Day marking its occurrence on June 15, adult children are reminded to take action to protect their elderly parents from fraud.

Have you ever felt sick to your stomach at the news that your mom gave her Social Security number over the phone to someone posing as someone from Medicare, or that your father transferred money to someone they met online? Unfortunately, many seniors are facing rising rates of elder fraud.

This article is a guide to protecting elderly parents against scams, from why they’re targeted by scammers to exactly what you can do to help prevent them in the short term.

Why Do Scammers Target Older Adults?

Elderly scams are not randomly generated; elderly people get picked specifically because:

• They have savings. Seniors usually have a lot of money sitting in retirement accounts, savings accounts, or equity in the house.
• They’re trusting. Some older people grew up during a time in which a handshake was still a “word of honor” and were brought up to be friendly and patient, and therefore less suspicious.
• They’re often alone. An older adult’s lack of interaction with others, especially if they live by themselves and no longer work, means that they have no one to ask: “That doesn’t sound right to me.”
• They have cognitive issues. Even mild dementia can impair a person’s judgment.
• They don’t know how to use tech properly. Someone who never had a phone in their youth might not be able to see when a call’s been spoofed or know to click through and identify if an email is phony. For assistance with the basics, check out our guide on how to help your older parents with technology.
• They refuse to report the incidents. Many victims of fraud don’t report crimes out of shame.

Understanding how these scams happen isn’t about pointing blame to your loved ones but about knowing where their vulnerabilities are, and then using them to your and their advantage to prevent further issues in the future.

Common Types of Elderly Scams in 2026

There’s a new trick to these scams every day, but here are some of the more popular ones you should watch out for:

The “Grandchild in Trouble” Scam

The scammer tells your parent they’re a grandchild caught in a bad situation, like getting arrested or hurt in an accident or being locked out of the country, and says they need your parent to pay for something right now. They’ll add, “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad.” Now these scam artists sometimes clone your actual grandchild’s voice using AI to make it sound more convincing.

Government Scams

Scammers pretend to be from the IRS, Social Security Administration, Medicare, or some other government agency and tell your parent they owe money or their benefits will stop unless they pay up. They might claim they need to “verify” your parent’s Social Security number to “save” it. No government official will ever call your parent about an emergency requiring instant payment.

Tech Support Scams

The scammer sends your parent a scary popup on their computer, telling them they have a virus and to call this number to solve the problem. The “tech support person” on the other end then tells your parent they’ll need remote access to the computer, then charges them hundreds of dollars for work that wasn’t needed or worse, steals their bank information or installs malware that will do the same.

Romance Scams

In this scam, the scammer creates a profile online, maybe on a dating app or even on Facebook, begins building a trusting, emotional relationship with your parent and then asks your parent for help with money for something, like travel or medical bills. The FBI reports that romance scams cause some of the highest financial losses for individual victims among older adults.

AI Deepfake Scams

This new scam uses AI to clone a family member’s voice from an older TikTok or Instagram video. Or it could be a video call so realistic, your parent thinks they’re actually on the phone with you or your sibling and that your family member is requesting money for a sudden emergency.

Check Washing

This scam is as simple as it is old-fashioned: a scammer steals your parent’s checks out of their mailbox, chemically washes off the ink to change the payee and the amount, and then cashes them. If your parent still pays bills by check, this is a real threat.

Medicare & Health Insurance Fraud

The scammer tells your parent they’re from a hospital or insurance company, they offer “freebies” like a walker or medical device or genetic test kit, or they just want to confirm or give your parent an “updated” Medicare card. Either way, scammers need your parent’s Medicare number, which is essentially just a number that can get your parent’s Medicare identity stolen and used to bill fake medical procedures and medicines.

Warning Signs Your Aging Parent Is Being Scammed

In some cases, you won’t get a chance to stop a scam from happening in the first place. So, knowing the signs your aging parent needs help in the first place becomes the first line of defense. So, look out for these red flags:

Financial warning signs:

• Unexplained withdrawals or wire transfers from their accounts or credit card bills
• New “friends” your parent is paying
• An aging parent who can’t keep up with their utility bills even though they have money
• Your aging parent doesn’t want to talk to you about their finances or money
• An aging parent who purchases a lot of gift cards (the fraudsters love gift cards because, once bought, there is no way to trace who actually received the card)
• An aging parent who is missing checks and who also has holes in their checkbook

Behavioral warning signs:

• Worry about or hurry to phone calls to answer the phone in secret
• Introduce you to the new guy/girl whom you haven’t met in person
• Changes to their will, power of attorney, or account beneficiaries
• Too many spam emails, sweepstakes and free prize offers
• Avoid questions about their day

If you’ve already had the conversation with your parents about finances, then you should have a general idea about their finances and will likely know if something seems out of the ordinary.

7 Ways You Can Protect Your Elderly Parents from Scams

You can’t put your parents in bubble wrap, nor should you. But you can create a safety net that gives them the space to live and function independently and locks the doors that scammers use to gain entry.

1. Designate A Trusted Contact At Your Parents’ Bank

Most major banks allow bank account holders to designate someone a “trusted contact” to call if the bank suspects they are being taken advantage of financially. This trusted contact won’t have access to the bank account, but the bank can notify them if they notice something suspicious.

Sit down with your parent and call their bank to set up a trusted contact. Many banks will hold suspicious activity if elder fraud is suspected.

2. Turn On Activity Monitoring and Alerts

Set up account alerts for your parent’s bank and credit card accounts. Many of them allow you to be alerted about:

• Transactions over a certain dollar amount
• Wire transfers or online bill pay
• The addition of new payees or recipients
• Changes to an address or phone number

There are services out there, like EverSafe (at $8/month), that are made specifically to watch for signs of exploitation among elderly adults and send out alerts to concerned family members.

3. Sign Up For The Do Not Call Registry and Screen Phone Calls

Sign up your parents for the Do Not Call list at donotcall.gov. It may not stop all scam calls, but it will cut back on the number of phone calls you parent will receive. Next, help your parent screen their phone calls:

• Landlines: Many phone carriers offer free call blocking. Have your parent ask their phone company if they have this service available.
• Cell phones: Cell phone carriers offer a free filter, either on an iPhone or on an Android phone. Or you can try installing an application like Nomorobo or Truecaller.
• Develop a code: Have a code word you can all use that is only used by trusted family members in case of emergency. This way, if your parent gets a call from someone claiming to be their grandchild who’s in trouble, they can ask the code word before transferring money or anything else.

4. Simplify Your Parent’s Finances

The less financial accounts and cards your parents manage, the fewer targets for fraudsters to focus on. Consider:

• Consolidating banking into one account
• Having all bills on autopay
• Changing to direct deposit for your parent’s Social Security and any pensions
• Opting your parent out of the pre-approved credit card offer list by calling 1-888-567-8688 (OptOutPrescreen)

5. Secure Their Mail

If your parent is still receiving and sending checks through the mail:

• Consider having a locked mailbox or a post office box
• Move to online bill paying and autopay when possible
• Hand deliver letters and packages at the post office or an approved carrier
• Sign up for Informed Delivery via USPS to keep a watchful family member in the loop of expected mail items

6. Be Available; Visit Often

Loneliness is the primary risk factor for elder financial exploitation. National Council on Aging states that social isolation causes older adults to be far more prone to scams.

Frequent interaction, calls, face-to-face visits, or even a monthly family newsletter through a service like Hug Letters, is a great way to keep your loved one connected to you. But you should think of it less as an opportunity to bond and more as a way to monitor their activities and see if something seems off. When parents and other seniors speak regularly with their family, they’re more likely to talk about that “nice man from the IRS” before wiring over a check.

If your mom or dad lives in an assisted living facility, our guide on reducing loneliness for parents in assisted living facilities may have some tips for you. It also includes strategies that will help decrease the odds of scams and fraud.

7. Set up Legal Safeguards

An elder law attorney will help set you up with:

• Durable power of attorney. This is how you can take over financial management in the case that your parent becomes incapable.
• A living trust. This may add a layer of security because you and other co-trustees would need to approve major transactions.
• A freeze of their credit with all three major bureaus: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion. A credit freeze prevents credit card companies from opening new accounts in your parent’s name. Credit freezes are free and can be temporarily unfrozen for periods in order to get legitimate credit.

If you haven’t had these kinds of conversations before, our guide to talking to aging parents about money might get the ball rolling.

Talking with your Parents About Scams

This is the moment that most adult children fear the most. No one wants to feel like a failure at raising their children to the point where their parents must feel like children themselves. Here’s how to have the conversation:

Don’t lecture, but instead start with a story. Begin by mentioning something like, “Wow, did you know scammers stole $3.4 billion dollars from seniors last year? I was really struck by how much money that is and I’d hate to see that happen in our own family.” Instead, talk about it as a family issue, rather than a “you” problem.

Make it a team. Try phrasing it, “I almost fell for a scam text message last week” or “My coworker’s mom got scammed recently.”

Do one thing at a time. Don’t try to get it all done in one discussion. This week, get a code word. Next time you visit, work together on call screening. Next month, discuss account alerts.

Never say, “you got scammed.” Your parent might have already experienced a scam, and if so, they are already aware. What they need now is compassion, not shame. The question is, what are we going to do going forward?

Don’t push too hard. If your elderly parent refuses help, they may stop talking to you about these problems. It is better to have a parent who calls you when they think they’ve received a suspicious email than a parent who is too afraid to reach out because they don’t want to feel like you’re trying to take their freedom from them.

What should I do if my elderly parent has been scammed?

If your parent has been a victim of a scam, it’s important to act fast, but also keep a cool head:

1. Don’t blame them. It can cause more problems in the future by discouraging them from seeking help later. Let them know that millions of people every year fall victim to scams, not just older adults.
2. Reach out to their bank. Contact the bank where your parent keeps their money immediately and explain what happened. The bank might be able to reverse the scam if you report it quickly enough. If possible, they might also be able to place a freeze on the account.
3. Make a complaint with the FTC. Submit your complaint through the ReportFraud FTC website. This information helps law enforcement agencies track patterns and potentially stop scammers from doing the same thing to other victims.
4. Report your parent’s case to the FBI. You can file a complaint through the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) if the fraud took place on the internet, over email, or during a telephone call.
5. Call the National Elder Fraud Hotline. This is another good resource that is funded by the Department of Justice, designed specifically to help victims and families dealing with the scam. The hotline number is 1-833-372-8311.
6. Call Adult Protective Services. This is another agency funded by the government for helping people who are elderly or disabled who are suffering from ongoing financial exploitation by another person (especially if your parent knows their abuser, or they are a family member).
7. Put fraud alerts and credit freezes on all accounts. Alert your parent’s credit reports to the big three credit bureaus immediately.
8. Make sure all their information is secure. If your parent provided any of their account information, or granted a scammer remote access to their computer or cell phone, change their passwords now if you haven’t already. If you need guidance, read our tips on helping elderly parents with technology, which includes steps on securing their device.
9. Write everything down and keep records. Keep a list of phone numbers called, copy emails that they’ve received, and write down any financial records. This documentation will be helpful when filing reports with the police and when trying to recover lost funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I protect my elderly parent from phone scams?

Have your parent register with the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov. Help your parent set up the caller ID or screening feature on their phone and establish a family code word to use for emergencies. Let your parent know that no company, government entity, or law enforcement agency will ask for immediate payment over the phone, and that it’s OK to hang up and call back on an account number from a bill or card number.

What is a trusted contact at a bank?

Banks may set up a “trusted contact” for an account holder to contact in the event the bank believes a customer may be suffering from financial exploitation. The trusted contact cannot access the account or authorise financial transactions; a trusted contact is a person the bank can call if something doesn’t look right. Most major banks provide this service for free.

How do I know if my elderly parent is a victim of financial exploitation by someone they know?

Elder financial abuse by someone known to your parent, such as a caregiver, relative, or someone who’s just gotten close to your parent, can be trickier to identify than stranger-run fraud. Watch for sudden changes to your parent’s will and financial documents, evidence of a new person who has been given access to your parent’s account, unexplained payments to a third party, and your parent becoming more isolated from other family members and friends. Contact Adult Protective Services in your parent’s state if you suspect a family member or friend is exploiting your parent.

My elderly parent keeps getting scammed. What should I do?

Parents who get scammed more than once may have an undiagnosed cognitive decline. Request a memory test from your parent’s doctor. In the meantime, request the bank set up a trusted contact for your parent’s account, and reduce your parent’s access to significant amounts of money (if you are appointed their legal representative). Reach out more often than usual. If you see other signs your parent needs more help, it might be time to discuss your parent’s long-term care needs more broadly.

Taking Care of Our Parents

For most of your life, your parents worked to protect you from harm. Now it’s time to set up safeguards for them, without taking over their lives.

Start small, this week. Set up a family secret word. Sign up your parents for the Do Not Call Registry. Bring up the topic at the dinner table. It doesn’t have to be a big meeting, it just has to be a conversation.

The best line of defense for your parents against elder financial fraud isn’t a software program, a new alarm system, or a locked-up bank account. It’s a family that stays in close touch with each other and takes an active interest in each other’s lives, be that a quick chat on Sunday morning, a weekend visit from across town, or a monthly letter that reminds you care.