ATLANTA, GA – During “Older Americans Month,” which runs throughout May, Attorney General Chris Carr’s Consumer Protection Division visited with more than 1,300 Georgia seniors to share critical tips and resources on how to recognize, prevent, and report financial abuse and exploitation.  

“As we take the time to honor and celebrate the contributions of older adults, it’s important that we continue to work together to ensure they’re protected from fraud and exploitation,” said Carr. “From senior centers to community resource fairs, we’re meeting Georgians where they are – providing critical tips and information on how to recognize, prevent, and report a scam. We won’t let anyone take advantage of our older Georgians, and those who do will be held accountable.” 

Consumer Protection Guide for Older Adults 

In 2018, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division created the “Georgia Consumer Protection Guide for Older Adults” to empower older Georgians, their families, and caregivers with information to make wise decisions about their money, safety, and well-being. The guide covers an array of topics of importance to seniors, including scams, identity theft, credit and debt, reverse mortgages, charitable giving, home repairs, funerals, advance directives, long-term care, elder abuse, and more. 

The guide is available in English, Spanish and Korean, and it’s free to download from the Consumer Protection Division website. 

Signs of Financial Abuse or Exploitation 

Financial abuse or exploitation is defined as the misuse of financial resources for another’s gain. Signs may include: 

  • Missing money or valuables
  • Credit card charges the individual didn’t make
  • Unusual activity in bank accounts
  • Unpaid bills, rent or taxes
  • Eviction notices
  • Legal documents (such as will or power of attorney) signed by an elderly person who couldn’t have understood what he or she was signing
  • Signatures on checks or documents that appear to be forged 

To report the financial abuse or exploitation of an older adult, contact Adult Protective Services by calling 1-866-55AGING (1-866-552-4464), and press “3.” Georgians can also file an online report with the Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services at aging.georgia.gov/report-elder-abuse. 

Common Scams Targeting Older Adults 

Each year, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud or confidence scheme, including investment schemes, government imposter scams, and online romance scams, to name a few. While these scams can and do happen to people of all ages, the perpetrators often target older adults because they’re frequently home during the day, have money saved, and may be too polite to hang up the phone or turn away a solicitor. 

Some common scams targeting older adults include: 

Government Imposter Scams: Con artists are using phone spoofing technology to make it appear as though you’re receiving a call from a legitimate government or law enforcement agency. The scammer may claim to be from the IRS, the Social Security Administration or local law enforcement. Using scare tactics, such as threatening arrest, the scammer may claim that you owe money, missed jury duty, or that your Social Security account has been frozen. To resolve the issue, the scammer instructs you to pay money, usually via a hard-to-trace method, such as wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.  

Investment/Cryptocurrency Scams: Investment schemes may take the form of an online romance. Someone contacts you — seemingly at random — on social media or through an online dating app. The person may have already checked out your social media profile to help them say the right things to build a relationship and gain your trust…and before you know it, your new friend wants to help you invest your money in the crypto markets, or they say they can teach you how to do it. No matter what the person says, if someone you meet online asks you for money or wants to help you invest in cryptocurrency, it’s a scam. Other signs of an investment scam include: 

  • Promises of big profits. The scammer might say they’ve made money this way before and that you will too, but it’s a lie. No one can guarantee profits in any investment.
  • No risk. Scammers may promise “no risk,” but all investments have risks, including investments in the crypto markets.
  • Scammers say they can help you learn to invest. They will say they can teach you investment tricks, but they’re really leading you to a scam investment opportunity. You will lose the money you “invest.”
  • Insistence on hard-to-trace payment methods. Scammers want your money quickly, and they don’t want it to be traced back to them, so they will steer you to gift cards, payment apps like Apple Pay, CashApp, PayPal, and Zelle, money wiring companies, or cryptocurrency. But only scammers insist you send money this way.  

Grandparent and Virtual Kidnapping Scams: In these scams, fraudsters use scare tactics to try to get you to pay a large sum of money – typically via wire transfer or gift cards – to rescue a loved one who’s supposedly in a dire situation. Scammers may pose as your grandchild, a friend of his or hers, or a police officer. They may tell you that your grandchild is badly hurt or in jail and that you must send money immediately to help him or her. In a similar scam, con artists claim to have kidnapped your loved one and insist that he or she will be harmed unless you pay a ransom immediately. 

What to Do if You’ve Lost Money to a Scammer 

Contact the financial provider. As soon as you become aware of the fraud, contact the appropriate bank, credit union, credit card provider, money transfer company or gift card provider immediately so you have the best chance of recovering your money and minimizing any damage done to your finances or credit record. For more detailed information based on the payment method used, visit consumer.georgia.gov/scams-what-do-if-youve-lost-money-scam.  

Report the fraud to law enforcement. To report fraud or a scam, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling 404-651-8600 or file an online complaint here. To report suspected elder fraud to the FBI, contact your local FBI field office or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. You can also file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov. 

For additional tips on how to recognize and avoid common elder fraud schemes, visit https://consumer.georgia.gov/scams-how-recognize-and-avoid-them.  

Contact

Communications Director Kara (Richardson) Murray

[email protected]