Scam Alert – Social Media

The prevalence of scams targeting the elderly is growing every year. These scams are so popular; in fact, these scammers have been giving their own nickname: Granny Scammers.  One of the latest tricks Granny Scammers have up their sleeves is using social media to gather information about your family. The scammers use the Internet to mine social media sites for important personal details about people. For example, the con artists know that younger people are typically much more web-savvy and active than their elderly relatives. The scammers will search through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find details about the younger people, such as when and where they are going on vacation. With these details in hand, the con artists then call the elderly relatives and try to impersonate younger family members. The scammers convince the elderly victim that their loved one is in trouble and that the elderly person should send money right away. (It helps when the elderly person has suffered hearing loss, as they might feel less able to recognize the loved ones’ voice.) Of course, as soon as the money is sent, the con artists are never heard from again. As the percentage of the population age 65 and over increases, complaints of fraud continue to rise.  The insurance industry believes that the cost of fraud is approaching $3 billion – a number that is also steadily increasing. Elderly people and their families can take some simple steps to protect themselves from granny scammers and other financial criminals. For one, everyone should be careful about the kind of information they post online. Limiting your social media accounts to only those whom you know personally and using discretion when posting personal details, is a good way to protect your privacy. Beyond that, you and your loved ones can choose a password or secret phrase that only you know. If you ever need so call a family member for help, you can use that password or phrase to confirm that it is actually you. IF someone calls and doesn’t know the secret word, it’s a scam. Bottom line,  if it smells fishy, don’t take the bait!  You can report financial fraud by contacting  the FBI at 202.324.3000 or online at https://tips.fbi.gov.  You may also wish to contact the United States Attorney's Office where you are located or where the fraud was committed.  Visit the Offices of the United States Attorneys for a list of the 93 United States Attorney's Offices and links to their websites.