10 Essentials to Protect Your Loved One — and Yourself — From Fraud

It’s a sad fact of life: Criminals target older Americans for fraud.

Many older folks have nest eggs. Cybersecurity is not their second language. They came of age during more trusting times. And they may be coping with isolation, diminished eyesight, hearing loss or other health issues.

Crooks exploit these vulnerabilities, but make no mistake: All of us — young and old — are susceptible to the bad actors who show up uninvited in calls, emails, mail, texts and tweets. Some are so bold as to knock on our front doors.

Fraud “is a crime that rips people’s souls apart,” says Anthony Pratkanis, an authority on the topic and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz. When it happens, financial loss is compounded by psychological hurt, feelings of vulnerability and even the death of one’s dreams, he says.

It’s role reversal when a younger person needs to counsel an elder, so you might want to frame these safeguards as steps that you, too, will take, Pratkanis says. As there are many techniques, consider tackling one a week.

Pratkanis and AARP’s Amy Nofziger took the lead in providing the anti-fraud measures below. Nofziger oversees the AARP Fraud Watch Network’s free helpline, 877-908-3360.

Nofziger suggests starting out with a nonconfrontational chat about a common scam and then role playing to game out how to deter it.

Here are the 10 key steps:

1. Start the conversation, if possible, before fraud has occurred. If it has, never blame the victim — it’s the criminal who is at fault.

If a son or daughter has a strained relationship with a parent, they could ask a parent’s friend, other relative or professional to step in, Pratkanis says.

Also, an older person seeking guidance can initiate the discussion by showing this story to someone who can help, he says.

2. Speed and silence will hurt you. The ruses vary: A purported problem with Social Security benefits; a grandchild “in jail” and in need of cash; or a sweepstakes prize “waiting to be claimed” once taxes or fees are paid.

During such deception, crooks often urge you to act fast. Instead, slow down. Many times they insist on secrecy, but the last thing you should do is keep quiet. Instead, talk things over with someone you trust.

3. Safeguard your assets. Never send funds to a stranger — not cash, gift cards, wire transfers, bank payments or, as increasingly is requested, cryptocurrency, no matter how convincing the spiel.

4. Safeguard personally identifiable information (PII), such as your Social Security, Medicare and credit card numbers and information about other financial accounts.