Cyber Fraud Risks during Retirement: Strategies for Safeguarding Your Post-Career Years
In the digital age, seniors have become a growing target for scammers who use sophisticated tactics to deceive and steal personal information or money. The most common scams in 2025 include phone scams, emails and texts posing as government agencies or financial institutions, romance scams, investment and cryptocurrency scams, grandparent scams, tech support scams, and increasingly, AI-generated deepfake scams.
These scams exploit seniors' trust, digital inexperience, isolation, and accumulated wealth, often involving impersonation of loved ones or officials and pressure tactics to extract money or personal information. To prevent these scams, education is key. It's essential to educate seniors about common scams and encourage skepticism toward unsolicited contacts and requests for personal or financial information.
Protecting personal information is also crucial. Seniors should never share personal information over the phone, email, or texts unless the contact is verified independently. Enabling digital security features such as two-factor authentication on accounts and devices can add an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access.
Regularly monitoring bank and credit accounts is another important step. Signing up for fraud alerts when available can help catch suspicious activity early. Communication with trusted friends or family members can also be beneficial. They can help review suspicious messages or offers before a response is given.
Suspicious contacts or messages that claim urgent demands for money or personal data, especially those requesting payments via gift cards or cryptocurrency, should be ignored or reported immediately. Scams can have severe financial implications, such as losing retirement savings, and can also have a heavy emotional toll on victims.
To bridge the digital literacy gap, ongoing conversations and workshops tailored to senior communities can be beneficial. These can focus on recognizing phishing emails, scams, and fake online identities.
The surge in losses—nearly $5 billion in 2024—and the use of advanced scams like AI deepfakes underline the need for continued vigilance and education. The FBI advises families to establish a secret phrase to verify requests for help, especially in grandparent scams.
Government impersonation scams can threaten to arrest or prosecute individuals unless they agree to make a payment owed or settle a debt. Sweepstakes, charity, or lottery scams can cost victims their personal information or money. Investment scams, including those involving cryptocurrency, cost victims over $1.2 billion in 2023.
Romance scams can result in significant financial losses, such as $468,000 in just 75 days for a retired New York attorney. Tech support scams involve fraudsters impersonating tech companies to trick individuals into granting remote access or paying for fake services.
In 2024, fraud and scams cost seniors a total of $4.8 billion, with those aged 50-59 losing an additional $2.5 billion. For retirees on fixed incomes, the loss of savings can mean relying on family or withdrawing funds early from work-related accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs.
Losing savings can turn a time of anticipated freedom into a time of survival for some retirees. Social isolation and cognitive decline can lead to vulnerability and embarrassment, which often prevent victims from reporting losses to family, friends, or authorities.
Older people often become easy targets for scammers due to their financial stability, trusting nature, and sometimes lack of familiarity with digital technologies. The BBB's 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report shows that investment and cryptocurrency scams are the riskiest for individuals 55 and above. In 2024, Medicare and healthcare scams resulted in $80.5 million in confirmed losses, according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA).
Employment scams were the second riskiest for consumers aged 50 to 64, while romance scams were the second most common for those 65 and up. It is recommended to report scams immediately to the FTC, FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, or AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline.
- In the digital age, seniors are increasingly targeted by scammers, with investment and cryptocurrency scams, as revealed by the BBB's 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report, being particularly risky for individuals aged 55 and above.
- To protect their wealth and personal information, seniors should be educated about common scams, such as those involving cryptocurrency, and be encouraged to exercise skepticism toward unsolicited contacts and requests for personal or financial information.
- Regularly monitoring bank and credit accounts is essential for seniors to catch suspicious activity early, such as transactions involving cryptocurrency, which can help prevent significant financial loss.
- In the fight against digital scams, enabling cybersecurity features like two-factor authentication can provide an extra layer of protection for seniors' finance and personal data, making them less vulnerable to impactful scams like those involving bitcoin.
- As part of ongoing education initiatives, workshops focused on technology, personal-finance, and lifestyle can help bridge the digital literacy gap for seniors, arming them with the knowledge to recognize phishing emails, scams, and fake online identities related to crypto and other financial schemes.
- Proactively taking steps to safeguard personal information and finances, such as monitoring accounts and utilizing cybersecurity measures, can help seniors maintain a sense of independence, security, and well-being amidst the growing threats of cyber scams.
- The pursuit of continuous self-development through education-and-self-development resources, such as in-person or online courses, can empower seniors to equip themselves with the digital skills necessary to navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape, including the world of cryptocurrency and wealth-management, fostering personal-growth and financial stability.
