AARP’s Message to Stay Safe From Scams: Pause. Reflect. Protect.

Keep these simple steps in mind — and share them with family and friends — to fight back against today’s sophisticated fraud criminals

Kathy Stokes,

Updated May 18, 2026

AARP

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En español

Updated May 18, 2026

a woman on a phone with icons showing pause reflect and protect against scams

AARP (Getty Images)

Key takeaways

· Most scams share three triggers: unexpected contact, heightened emotion, and urgency.

· An intentional “active pause” helps restore logic that fraud attempts try to override.

· Ending the communication and taking time to independently verify details can stop many scams before money is lost.

Have you heard of the tech support scam? What about the toll road scam? The grandparent scam? Do you know what the red flags are for each of these scams?

Let’s face it: Keeping up with the latest scams and all the red flags that warn us of each one is exhausting. Scams are constantly evolving, and each comes with its own set of red flags to remember. But there are a few general warning signs that apply to a wide range of scams. There are also key ways to respond when you spot those warning signs.

In 2024, AARP Fraud Watch Network launched a project to develop a near-universal message to help consumers recognize and avoid fraud attempts. With consultant Heart + Mind Strategies, we collaborated with dozens of people worldwide, including educators, fraud specialists, law enforcement, fraud victims, relevant federal agencies and even a linguist to arrive at a singular message that would resonate widely: Pause. Reflect. Protect.

In Search of ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’ for Fraud

If you grew up in the U.S., you may remember learning in grade school what to do if your clothes catch fire: Stop, drop and roll. This campaign, along with improved building codes and increased use of smoke alarms, is credited with reducing fire-related injuries.

The AARP project sought to create a campaign similar to Stop, Drop and Roll as an element of the fraud prevention ecosystem.

But before developing a near-universal, safe response to fraud attempts, we needed to determine the best way to trigger that response. “Stop, drop and roll” has a clear trigger and a mighty strong one: fire. But fraud attempts are a bit more complicated. Ultimately, we arrived at three elements common to most scams: unexpected contact, a surge of emotion and a sense of urgency. Once we teach people that these three elements are triggers, we can teach a safe response to them. We call that response the “active pause.”

The Active Pause

This is no ordinary pause. Rather, it’s an intentional act to step back and reflect on what you might know about the situation with which you are faced. For example: Is your grandson calling you late at night (unexpected contact), saying he’s in jail across the country and needs your help (prompting a surge of emotion from you: I must help him!)? Does he say he needs you to send money immediately (creating a sense of urgency)? These are the three triggers that should elicit an active pause.

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In the above scenario, you might consider whether it makes sense that your grandson is calling you and not his parents, and that he’s in jail 2,000 miles away when you just had dinner with him yesterday. This intentional step back lets your brain engage with logic — the exact thing the criminal playbook seeks to bypass — and understand the scam attempt for what it is.

In this scenario, you could use the active pause to end communication and call your grandson directly. You might find that he was at home and asleep. In that case, you’ve protected yourself and your money from a fraud attempt.

We see some form of the active pause in high-pressure fields like aviation, emergency medicine and military operations. Now we can apply it to the high-pressure situation of a fraud attempt.

Taking an active pause when triggered can help us regain control of the situation. It gives us time to reflect on what we may know about the scenario, or to call a friend or verify the contact. The ultimate goal is to protect ourselves by ending the communication.

There are many fraud protection measures worth knowing. But narrowing them down to just three will make them easier to understand and remember, which we hope will stop many scams in their tracks.

Know the triggers, know the safe response: Pause. Reflect. Protect.

As with fire safety, many elements must come together to make us all safer from fraud. We encourage everyone to add Pause, Reflect, Protect to their fraud education messaging. It doesn’t apply to every scam, but it’s a start.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Kathy Stokes is the director of fraud prevention programs at the AARP Fraud Watch Network.