Elder fraud: how to protect an older parent from scams

The FBI’s 2025 report counted 201,266 complaints from people 60 and over, up 37% on 2024, and $7.748 billion in losses, up 59%. The average loss was $38,500, and 12,444 complainants lost more than $100,000 each (2025 IC3 Annual Report). Older adults are targeted because they are more likely to have savings, home equity and retirement accounts, and because many were raised to answer the phone and trust officials.

Crypto was involved in $4,347,081,557 of those losses. Older adults made 6,188 complaints about Bitcoin ATMs and kiosks, losing $257,466,130. The FTC sees the same trend: reports from older adults who lost $10,000 or more to business and government imposters rose from 1,790 in 2020 to 8,269 in 2024, and 41% of those started with a phone call (FTC Data Spotlight, August 2025).

• Grandparent and family emergency scams. A call from a “grandchild” in jail or in a crash, sometimes with a cloned voice, then a “lawyer” who wants bail money in cash, gift cards or crypto. See AI voice cloning scams.
• Government imposters. Someone from “Social Security”, “Medicare”, the IRS or the FBI says their identity is linked to a crime and their money must be moved. The FBI recorded about 32,000 government impersonation complaints across all ages in 2025.
• Tech support and fake bank fraud alerts. A pop-up or call about a hacked computer or a suspicious charge leads to remote access and a transfer to a “safe account”. See tech support scams and imposter scams.
• Couriers collecting cash or gold. After a tech support or government imposter call, a “courier” comes to the door to collect cash or precious metals. The FBI counted approximately 725 of these complaints in 2025, with $311.8 million lost.
• Romance and investment scams. A new online friend, often widowed and overseas, who eventually introduces a crypto investment. See romance scams and investment and crypto scams.
• Recovery scams. After a loss, someone offers to get the money back for a fee. People 60 and over reported $540,505,980 lost to recovery scams in 2025 (which may include earlier losses).

1. Name a trusted contact at the bank and brokerage. A trusted contact is someone the institution may call if staff suspect fraud, exploitation or confusion. It does not give that person access to the account or the power to make transactions. Brokerages are required by FINRA Rule 4512 to ask for one; many banks also offer it. The CFPB has a free guide for choosing one (CFPB, protecting against fraud).
2. Agree a family safe word. The FBI recommends a secret word or phrase that family members use to prove who they are in an emergency call (FBI PSA, December 2024).
3. Write the call-back rule on a card by the phone. “If anyone calls about money, hang up and call the number on my card or statement. If anyone says keep it secret, call [your name].”
4. Turn on account alerts for large withdrawals, transfers and new payees, sent to your parent and, with their agreement, to you.
5. Freeze their credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It is free and stops most new-account fraud. Our credit freeze guide walks through it.
6. Cut the incoming calls. Turn on Silence Unknown Callers (iPhone) or call screening (Android), register at DoNotCall.gov, and consider opting them out of people-search sites, where scammers buy ages, addresses and relatives’ names.

Removing an older relative from people-search sites can be done for free, one site at a time, with our data broker removal guide. If you would rather pay a service to do it and repeat it, Optery has a free scan that shows which sites list them first.

• Large or unusual cash withdrawals, wires, or gift card purchases.
• A new “friend” online whom nobody has met, or a sudden interest in crypto.
• Secretive phone calls, or a parent who has been told not to talk to bank staff or family.
• Remote access software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer) on a computer they did not install it on themselves.
• Unfamiliar packages, couriers, or a Bitcoin ATM receipt.

1. Call their bank or the payment company now and ask them to stop or recall the transfer. In 2025 the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team worked 642 fast-reported cases involving people 60 and over, with $65,367,648 reported lost, and helped freeze $32,865,655.
2. Call the DOJ National Elder Fraud Hotline: 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm Eastern. It is free, and a case manager helps with reporting at the federal, state and local level (Office for Victims of Crime). The hotline warns that scammers pretend to be hotline staff, so do not give a Social Security number or money to anyone who calls claiming to be from it.
3. Report it at IC3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
4. If personal details were given, use IdentityTheft.gov and freeze their credit.
5. If you suspect someone they know is exploiting them, contact Adult Protective Services in their state through the Eldercare Locator.

Our step-by-step for each payment method is in what to do if you sent money to a scammer. More guides are in the scams hub.