Older Marylanders scammed out of millions online: Red flags to look for

MARYLAND – Technology can be really helpful in every day life, but it can also land you in a trap. As scams targeting older populations grow, local law enforcement and tech experts are sharing helpful tips to prevent it from happening to you.

“It’s better to always be suspicious of things,” said marketing manager for Impact Technology, Tara Diskin. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, and it’s better to look at everything really closely to make sure, because it could be your livelihood that is up against these hackers. And, they are smart.”

Millions Lost to Elder Fraud

In 2022, Marylanders 60 years old and up lost $63,662,134 to fraud, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The state averages at 119 fraud victims per 100,000 elderly residents. Adults over the age of 60 were 517% more likely to fall victim to tech support scams than their younger counterparts.

Nationally, investment and romance scams, respectively, are the most common schemes targeting older folks. The most common method of scamming elderly folk is online. Elderly fraud victims lost $564 million to online fraud, compared to $90 million in text scams.

Common Schemes

Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli says that a scam targeting an increasing number of older folks plays on their emotions.

“An elder will get a call on their cell phone, and it’ll be someone saying ‘Hey Grandmom, it’s your grandson, John. I’ve been in a car accident and I need money for the tow bill,'” Sheriff Crisafulli explained. “Or, ‘I’ve been incarcerated, and I need you to send me money.'”

And, social media is only making it easier for scammers to steal.

“It doesn’t take much for someone to be able to figure out that this is the person, this is the name of their grandkids, because it’s all over social media,” Sheriff Crisafulli said. “They’re looking for identifiable characteristics on the person, and a lot of times, that’s how they become victim to fraud.”

Another common scam involves callers posing as local law enforcement on the phone.

“Law enforcement will never call you and say that you have a warrant for your arrest, you need to pay this restitution,” Sheriff Crisafulli said. “We send mail to people, that have warrants, encouraging them to turn themselves in.”

Red Flags to Watch For

While browsing online, tech experts say there are some red flags that can be easy to identify.

“Don’t always just assume that because you’re getting a phone call, an email, or even a text message, that it’s legitimate,” Diskin said. “Look out for misspellings, or if you’re not expecting something, it probably isn’t something legitimate.”

Diskin says internet users should also be careful about their own activity when surfing the web; one typo can lead you to a sticky situation.

“Sometimes, if you mistype a URL, it can actually pop up like a scam screen, that says ‘Call this number. You’ve been hacked,'” said Diskin. “The best thing is to just close out of your browser, reopen it, make sure you’re correctly entering the URL.”

But before you even give malicious malefactors a chance to strike, Diskin says you should do yourself a favor, and take preventative steps to protect your information.

“On all of your social media, your email, your bank accounts, there is multi-factor authentication,” Diskin said. “I would recommend having that on any accounts that you can, because that is a prevention method that will keep those hackers out.”

Turn to the Experts, Report Wrongdoing

It’s also a good idea to rely on the experts, says Diskin. Impact Technology can help customers of any age beef up their cybersecurity, and confirm whether they’ve been targeted by bad actors. Diskin also recommends identity theft protection services, like LifeLock.

Most importantly, if you think you’ve been targeted by a scammer, be sure you report it to your local law enforcement agency. You can also report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission, by clicking here.