By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
[email protected]
AARP created its Fraud Watch Network in 2013 to educate older adults about deceptive tactics and schemes. The network is a nationwide effort, involving all 53 AARP state offices, to raise awareness about the risk that fraud poses to people’s financial security.
It provides fraud prevention resources, information on current scams, a free helpline and virtual emotional support sessions for victims of these crimes. The network’s work is critical especially as fraud is at a crisis level in the U.S., according to Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs at AARP.
“Fraud is a crime. At the very least, it’s unsettling. You may lose your trust in institutions. You may lose your trust in yourself,” said Stokes. “Quite often, these scams are super complex and sophisticated, and they take weeks, months or even years.”
One of the motivations behind perpetrators targeting older adults with fraud scams is the belief that they have more assets than younger individuals.
“The primary reason is because of the presumption that that’s where the money is in this country,” said Stokes. “They figure if they can get a person who’s saved all their lives or who has a pension, Social Security, housing wealth and an estate, they can wipe them out.”
Other motivations are stereotypes, according to Stokes. These include sweeping assumptions that older adults lack digital literacy, experience cognitive decline or are too nice to or too trusting to detect scam attempts.
Though studies indicate that younger adults are more likely to report fraud than their older counterparts, the losses from fraud are more significant for older populations. The Federal Trade Commission determined that the median reported loss for people aged 70 to 79 was $800 in 2021. For adults over 80, it was $1,500.
Stokes also pointed out that the unwarranted shame people feel when they’ve fallen victim to fraud may also prevent them from reporting it all. Reframing the way people characterize fraud crimes has been a large part of AARP’s mission.
“We’re trying to change the victim-blaming narrative in this country. For way too long, we’ve allowed ourselves to believe that scams only happen to older adults. As long as we’ve been able to do that, we can put them in a corner and say, ‘Well, that’s not my problem,’” said Stokes. “Well, guess what? It’s everybody’s problem because it’s happening to everybody.”
Stokes highlighted two common schemes of fraud perpetrators. One is a tech support scam, in which perpetrators impersonate tech support representatives to trick people into providing their personal information, paying for unnecessary services or allowing remote access to their computers.
These fake alerts can pop-up on any device, and, at times, they come with a loud, blaring sound.
“In the data we see, older adults tend to experience this more. The criminal is looking for an emotional response because that’s what opens the door to make these scams succeed,” said Stokes. “Criminals know that when we’re faced with a situation that puts us into a heightened emotional state, our brains are wired to act and not to stop and think logically.”
Another common tactic is financial grooming. In this scheme, perpetrators gain their victims’ trust through emotional manipulation and persuade them to make investments they wouldn’t otherwise make. These scams may start as a random text message and later turn into a consistent exchange.
Stokes said, lately, perpetrators have been posing as successful cryptocurrency investors, falsely promising to connect people with exclusive opportunities and high returns.
“People end up on a fake crypto exchange, and it looks like they’re making a ton of money,” said Stokes. “When they try to pull it out, they realize it was all a fraud, and none of it ever existed.”
Stokes encouraged people to have more conversations about fraud with their loved ones, especially those who are older adults. She explained that it’s crucial to give concrete examples of schemes that perpetrators are using.
She also recommended that older adults use a password manager to strengthen their online security and set up a credit freeze to prevent criminals from opening accounts in their names.
“If you are a victim, it is not your fault. It was highly sophisticated and targeted, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of yourself,” said Stokes. “It’s a crime, and you’re going to want to report it to the police in the event that somewhere down the line you might be able to get your money back.”
