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Posted: Sep 22, 2022 10:35 AMUpdated: Sep 22, 2022 10:35 AM

Imposter Fraud Increasing

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Victoria Edwards

Imposter fraud is the fastest-growing scam targeting older adults. As inflation has squeezed paychecks and raised prices on everything, fraudsters are getting creative in how they approach someone for money. Their new tactics are causing even the most cynical person to fall for a scam.

The most common scams are now from someone pretending to be someone you trust or do business with and their approach is a personal one, asking for something you might not think is inappropriate. For instance, a "physican's office" might call for an updated Medicare care number to process a bill or a "banker representative" who wants to verify account numbers or offering a great rate on a loan. There is also the government agency scam that demands to know your social security number or a credit card number because you are about to be audited or jailed and the utility scam where someone says you are about to have your electricity or gas paid off because your payment wasn't received and they just need you to make a payment over the phone. But the one that most fall for is the "hurt or jailed relative" where a stranger calls saying s/he were with your relative when the incident occured and now money is needed for medical care or to make bail.

To help combat these fraudulent activities, all of the state offices of AARP are participating in a special network to monitor fraud by taking reports of scams from anyone who wants to report one. The Fraud Watch Network can be reached at 1-877-908-3360.


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