Grandma Nora had a very active family. It seemed like she was always getting postcards from her travel-loving granddaughter Emma and attending ball games for her grandson Thomas. She enjoyed keeping up with all of their activities and hearing their stories when the family came together for the holidays.
One day, Nora received a very disturbing call from Kylie, who was traveling through Italy. Kylie was crying and said she was in danger. A group of men had threatened to hurt her unless she paid them $5,000. Kylie said the men would hurt her if anyone called the police and she needed the money right now. Nora was a little suspicious but also very worried. She double checked the name on her phone: it said the call was from Kylie. It definitely sounded like Kylie’s voice, and when Nora asked about where Kylie was and which towns she had visited before, all the answers matched with what Nora knew of Kylie’s trip. Her granddaughter’s safety was the most important thing for Nora, so she agreed to pay the money. Kylie gave her the details for a wire transfer and Nora sent it over through her bank. As soon as Kylie confirmed the wire transfer, she immediately hung up.
Nora called Kylie’s parents and told them about the situation. She assured them that she had sent the money over and Kylie was safe now. Kylie’s parents were confused. They had spoken to Kylie earlier that day and she had been fine. While keeping Nora on the phone, Kylie’s parents called Kylie. Kylie was happily touring a castle with some friends and said she hadn’t called Grandma.
Nora realized that she had been scammed. She called the bank to try to reverse the wire transfer. The bank said that they could note it as fraudulent, but the money was already gone. They explained that one of the reasons that scammers asked for wire transfers was that they were irreversible once they were accepted by the recipient.
Nora was disappointed that she had been tricked but was also a little confused. How did the scammers make the call show up as Kylie, sound like Kylie, and know exactly where Kylie had been? Nora got in touch with one of our Aging Life Care Managers®, since she had heard that part of our job was to help educate seniors about fraud and scams. When she asked how the scammers had managed to make everything so realistic, the care manager explained that scammers are now using AI to create realistic sounding voices. The care manager asked if Kylie was active on a public social media account. When Nora said that she was, the care manager explained that the scammers had probably used the videos that Kylie posted to copy her voice and learn the details of her trip.
To guard against future scams, the care manager suggested that Nora and her family come up with a “safe word” that they could use to confirm who it was they were talking to if something like this ever happened again. The care manager also reviewed the common techniques that scammers use, such as creating a sense of urgency and requesting money through gift cards or wire transfers.
Every year, American seniors lose billions of dollars to scams and fraud. Learning about the common types of scams that are aimed at seniors and the techniques that scammers use can help prevent you or your aging loved one from falling prey to scammers. Start working with our Aging Life Care Managers® today to learn what you can do to protect yourself and your aging loved ones from scams.
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