Senior Scam Safety Checklist

Overview

What senior scam safety covers

Senior scam safety includes government impersonation, Medicare and health plan fraud, Social Security threats, fake prizes, fake tech support, romance scams, emergency-family scams, utility shutoff scams, phishing, and identity theft.

The research flags scam prevention as a permanent Senior Deals Club topic because a single fraudulent transfer can erase years of careful budgeting.

• Threats that you will be arrested, lose benefits, or owe immediate penalties.
• Requests to confirm your Social Security or Medicare number by phone, text, email, or social media.
• Offers of free medical equipment, genetic testing, cards, benefits, or grants in exchange for personal information.
• Messages that pressure you to keep the conversation secret from family, banks, or advisors.

Risk patterns

Who may be targeted

Anyone can be targeted. Older adults may see more attempts because they are more likely to receive Medicare, Social Security, pensions, home equity offers, tech-support calls, caregiver pitches, and health-related ads.

Caregivers should watch for sudden new contacts, unusual withdrawals, unpaid bills, new secrecy, unexplained gift card purchases, new online relationships requesting money, or pressure to change bank access.

Evidence

What to save if something feels wrong

• Phone number, caller ID, voicemail, text, email, website, username, or mailing address.
• Screenshots of messages, ads, payment instructions, or fake documents.
• Receipts for gift cards, wire transfers, money orders, cryptocurrency, or payment apps.
• Bank, card, Medicare, or insurance statements showing suspicious activity.
• Dates, times, names used by the caller, and what they asked you to do.
• Do not keep talking to the scammer just to collect more evidence.

Verify

Where to verify and report

For general scams, use FTC consumer resources and ReportFraud.ftc.gov. For Social Security impersonation, use SSA scam guidance and SSA OIG reporting. For Medicare fraud, use Medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or contact your state Senior Medicare Patrol.

If money moved, contact the bank, card issuer, wire company, gift card issuer, payment app, or crypto platform immediately. Reporting quickly does not guarantee recovery, but it improves the chance of stopping additional harm.

Local help

What varies by situation

• Banks, payment apps, gift card companies, and wire services have different dispute and reversal windows.
• Identity theft steps depend on whether a Social Security number, Medicare number, bank login, or card number was exposed.
• Local police, adult protective services, attorneys general, and aging agencies may have state-specific reporting paths.
• Medicare Advantage, Part D, Medigap, and provider fraud questions may require plan-specific or Medicare-specific reporting.

Next steps

A household safety routine

• Use a family rule: no urgent money movement based only on a call, text, email, or social message.
• Keep official numbers for SSA, Medicare, banks, insurance, utilities, and local police in one printed list.
• Check Medicare claims, bank accounts, and credit card statements regularly.
• Use strong unique passwords and multi-factor authentication on financial, email, Medicare, and Social Security accounts.
• Report suspicious contact even if no money was lost, because reports help agencies identify patterns.