Seniors Beware: To Some We Are Simply Prey

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• 7 minutes

Jump to scam rundown

The abuse of our elderly population is more than a little concerning. While pre-pandemic sources estimated that one in ten adults aged 65 and older is abused every year, a more recent study demonstrated that one in five older adults reported some form of abuse during the pandemic. Mind you, that’s reported cases — and it’s estimated that only one in 24 cases are reported to the authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines elder abuse as “an intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.” By this definition, then, elder abuse can include things like physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, and abandonment. Sad to say, all of these are taking place in the United States today.

But abuse of the elderly has existed throughout history and across cultures, although the extent to which this is true can be hard to pinpoint. Much like child abuse and domestic violence, any elder abuse that took place prior to about 50 years ago was largely a private matter, to be handled by and kept within the family. It wasn’t until the mid- to late-1970s that legislation began to move these things into the realm of public health and criminal justice.

What leads a society to implicitly condone (or at the very least, allow) inhumane treatment of some of its most vulnerable members? Interestingly, it may not simply be a reflection of society's lack of respect for its older members. One study suggests that the more idealized their view of the elderly, “the less tolerant and more demanding society is towards [them],” resulting in mistreatment and abuse. Of course, that’s not to say the opposite can’t also be true: emerging research correlates ageism with a higher prevalence of elder abuse.

How do we explain the marked uptick in abuse of older adults since COVID-19? Some factors at play during the height of the pandemic seem self-evident: nursing home admissions were severely restricted, and visits to those within such facilities were virtually impossible. Thus for those who needed the most support, the burden of care rested squarely on the shoulders of just one or a few caregivers with little opportunity for outside help, resulting in tremendous caregiver stress, moral injury and burnout; or the older one became profoundly isolated from friends, family and others who could otherwise act as advocates.

This side of the pandemic, these specific pressures have eased, but other effects still linger. Nursing homes are still reeling from the toll taken on them in the form of lost profits and staffing shortages. Ultimately, nurses and other staff feel the brunt of it — and may take it out on patients. A sobering report from the World Health Organization in 2024 revealed that just about two-thirds of nursing home staff admitted to engaging in abusive behavior toward those under their care.

Although we’re past the most acute of the pandemic’s economic impacts, much of America’s blue- and white- collar workers are still struggling to find their financial footing. Adult children of aging parents who, in previous decades, may have had the option to cut back on or take a break from work to help with caregiving, now feel they have no choice but to focus on their careers in order to make ends meet. Busy and overworked, they’re also more likely to miss the signs of physical or cognitive decline that indicate a change in needs. The disconnect can fuel misunderstandings that can, over time, result in some form of mistreatment.

Add to this the widespread societal shift toward isolation, well along before COVID-19 but certainly exacerbated by it, which older adults are especially affected by. The U.S. Surgeon General referred to this shift as an “epidemic” in 2023, and reported that the highest rates of social isolation are found among older adults. Alongside cognitive impairment — e.g., dementia or Alzheimer’s disease — social isolation is one of the greatest risk factors for elder abuse.

One form of elder abuse that has been on the rise is financial exploitation. Sometimes the perpetrator is someone the older person already knows, but the last few decades have seen a boom in dedicated scam artists bent on tricking the aged into parting with their money. While people at all levels of education, income and age have reported losing money to scammers, older adults are by far the most targeted.

Scams Targeting Older Adults

It’s natural that we would focus some attention on financial exploitation. Here’s a rundown of some of the most common methods scammers use today and how we can protect ourselves.

 Advance-fee scam. For those of us who remember the dawn of e-mail, advance-fee scams are nothing new (and we hope you never wired money to that Nigerian prince). The premise of an advance-fee scam is that someone wants to send the target something valuable— usually money, but recent scams also promise things like medical devices or coupons— but the recipient must first send a smaller amount of money or gift cards to cover “taxes” or “processing fees.” Perpetrators have been known to claim the target is a lottery or sweepstakes winner or eligible for a government grant, and may even impersonate well-known organizations like Publishers Clearing House to foster trust.

If you’re ever asked to send cash, gift cards or money in order to receive some promised windfall, assume it’s a scam until proven otherwise. If the request claims to come from a reputable organization, consider contacting that organization via its publicly available phone number or email address to verify the message you received. And bear in mind that any legitimate sweepstakes or government program will never require recipients to pay before receiving funds.

 Government impersonation scam. In addition to the “government grant” scam mentioned above, many scammers pose as government officers or agents to coax money or personal information from victims. They may claim that your information is being used to commit crimes, or that you’ll be arrested or deported if you don’t pay your “unpaid taxes.” Others may threaten to cut off Social Security or Medicare benefits unless you provide them with certain personal information. Some scammers may already know the last four digits of their target’s Social Security number and their email address, allowing them to follow up a phone call with an official-looking email. They may even “spoof” their phone number, making their call appear to come from the actual phone number of a government agency.

Government rules and programs can be confusing, and it may not sound too far-fetched that we’re in trouble because we forgot to fill out a form for something. But while most of these scams are perpetrated via telephone calls, most important government correspondence is sent via postal mail. Always think twice about sharing personal or financial information over the phone, particularly when you didn’t initiate the call. In the specific case of taxes, the IRS will never require immediate payment over the phone.

 Grandparent scam. Usually in the form of a phone call, grandparent scams are effective because they exploit our emotions. The caller may pose as the grandchild himself, or as a police officer, doctor or lawyer trying to help the grandchild. The scammer may have found personal information about the target and his or her grandchild via social media and Internet searches, or may employ clever means to pressure the victim into providing necessary info (“Hi Grandma, do you know who this is?”). In any case, these scams usually use urgency to drive a caring grandparent to do whatever is claimed to be necessary— before they have time to realize that something doesn’t add up. Especially if the call is made in the middle of the night, as they often are, the victim is likely to be disoriented to begin with.

Getting a call like this can be scary, and our instinct may be to act first and ask questions later. But if we know beforehand that this is a method scammers are using, we’re more likely to have the presence of mind to pause and reflect in that moment. If we’re still unsure whether a loved one really needs our help, we can hang up and call them back at the number we have saved for them. Although scammers can fake their phone number for outgoing calls, they won’t be able to intercept an incoming call to someone else’s number.

 Financial services scam. These may, for all intents and purposes, appear to come from a legitimate source such as a bank, mortgage company or debt collection agency. They may offer an opportunity, such as better rates on a home loan. More often, though, they use fear to manufacture urgency and push their targets to make a quick decision without thinking it through. Scammers may claim that an account has been compromised or threaten arrest for unpaid bills. Through intimidating language, they scare victims into providing sensitive information or payments.

A good rule of thumb for these types of calls, emails or text messages is to go directly to the source. If you get an email that claims to be from a reputable bank, for example, call that bank at the publicly listed number and ask about the message. If you get a call that claims to be from your credit card company, hang up and call the customer service number listed on your card and ask about the call. If the message or call was legitimate, there should be no problem getting it resolved this way.

 Tech support scam. When it comes to fraud committed against older adults, tech support scams are often at the top of the list. Typically, a device such as a computer or phone will freeze, or the screen will go blank, then a pop-up will appear with a phone number to call for help. The number will connect you with the scammer, who may claim that your online accounts have been hacked and ask for permission to remotely log in to your device to “fix” the issue. They may also demand a fee for the “repair.”

If a device starts acting suspicious, it’s best to reach out yourself to a trusted IT professional. Many devices come with a warranty or official support options, which may be a good place to start. And if you ever find yourself staring down a pop-up you didn’t ask for, urging you to call a specific number for “help,” don’t panic. A simple power-off-and-back-on-again has solved many a tech issue, and may be all you need to get back up and running.

 Romance/sweetheart scam. An especially nefarious sort of fraud is the so-called sweetheart scam. In these cases, scammers create fake social media profiles and use them to develop relationships with individuals, gain their trust, and ultimately steal money. These can drag on for a long time, with the scammer patiently building his victim’s confidence and draining funds and assets over months or years. Sometimes these scammers may be (or pretend to be) overseas, requesting help with paying for visas, medical emergencies, and travel expenses to come to the U.S.

Although online dating isn’t necessarily dangerous in itself, relationships that are exclusively online might be a cause for concern. It can be hard to be realistic when our heart is involved— and that’s precisely why this scam works. So before you answer that DM from the kind-looking fellow or lady you’ve never met in real life, consider what might actually be behind that profile pic.

Scams like these continue to grow in prevalence and complexity. If you’ve fallen victim to a scam, there’s nothing to be ashamed of: they’re designed to catch us off-guard, and they can happen to any one of us. But that doesn’t mean they’re inevitable. The more we familiarize ourselves with the methods scammers are using, the better equipped we’ll be to catch them before they snare us.

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