Seniors are often a target market for scammers because they may have extra time or money to get lured in by scammers. One way to protect the senior loved one in your life from scams is to stay aware of the latest scams. Here are the details on a handful of scams, so you can watch out for them.
- The Pig Butchering Scam. This oddly named scam taps into the current interest in cryptocurrency. With this scam, fraudulent investors get customers to invest in cryptocurrency. Once their account grows, or “fattens up,” the fraudsters escape with the money, according to the office of Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis. This scam is often done via online dating (another area ripe for scams). How to protect yourself: Don’t work with businesses that only accept payments in cryptocurrency. Stay wary of investment opportunities that pop up on online dating sites. And remember, if an opportunity sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- The Jury Duty Scam. Some residents in Florida are getting calls that say they have missed jury duty and must make a payment, or they will get arrested. Some of the residents were asked to buy gift cards to pay their fine. Previously, Sarasota County received reports of scammers pretending they were officers and telling victims that they had an arrest warrant for them because they didn’t sign up for jury duty. How to protect yourself: Know that the court system will not contact you by phone for failure to appear for jury duty. The courts also will not ask for payments by phone or email. Don’t give out your personal information over the phone.
- The Text Scam. We’ve all received our share of robocalls, but how about robotexts? Scammers are moving away from phone calls to focus on text scams. In fact, spam texts increased from 1 billion per month last July to 12 billion in June 2022, according to a Sarasota Herald-Tribune newspaper article. One common scam text: A message that says it’s from Amazon or another delivery company that says an order can’t be delivered. The message will include a link. When you input your personal information via the link, scammers can use that data to steal your identify or use your bank account. How to protect yourself: Don’t click on links from senders you don’t know. Don’t respond to texts from phone numbers you don’t recognize.
Call Secure Aging to Find Out How We Can Help Seniors With Financial Management
At Secure Aging in Bradenton, we transform the weight of the world into a sigh of relief for our senior clients and their concerned family members. The mission of Secure Aging is to protect care management. As our clients age, it is their desire to remain independent and age with dignity. Our services protect our clients from talented con artists looking to exploit and deplete the financial resources of our vulnerable seniors. Secure Aging helps families in Manatee County and Sarasota County and in and around the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Myakka City, Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota. Call us at 941-761-9338, or visit us online at www.secureaging.com.
