How to protect seniors from financial scammers.

“Fraudsters typically call elderly individuals, posing as bank or law enforcement officials, and claim that a third party is attempting to withdraw money from their accounts. During the conversation, scammers may apply emotional pressure on seniors to manipulate them more easily. Consequently, they persuade retirees to transfer funds to another supposedly safe account. Furthermore, scammers determine if the senior can use mobile banking, provide instructions for transferring money, and suggest downloading certain applications to gain remote access,” the agency reported.

Key points to consider:

• do not trust strangers, even if they claim to be law enforcement or bank employees;
• if the caller has personal information such as name and address, it is not a reason to trust them – it is possible that this information has been leaked publicly;
• make a note of the name and position of the person claiming to be a law enforcement or financial organization employee, then contact the call center of that agency to verify the information;
• do not panic, even if a person claiming to be a close acquaintance calls and says they are in trouble – ask them to call back and verify the truth of the information;
• do not share personal information, including bank details, card expiration date, three-digit code, password, and account balance;
• remember that law enforcement, banks, and other financial institutions do not request personal information over the phone – such information is needed by scammers.