As technology evolves, so do scams. And in today’s fast-paced, highly digitized world, older adults are more vulnerable than ever.
Cases of elder fraud are on the rise throughout the country, and Arizona has the highest rate — 289 cases per 100,000 seniors.
In 2023, the FBI reported a 14% increase in elder fraud complaints in the United States.
Louise Harrison, 73, is one of those Arizona victims. She received a call in early February, accusing her of missing two jury duty assignments. The unknown caller later demanded she pay a large sum of money.
The scammers then sent a fraudulent arrest warrant to pressure her.
"Well, maybe I was supposed to go to court," Harrison said. "Maybe there was a mix-up, so they wanted a bond, a bond to be sure I would show up today at 12 o'clock. And it just went on and on, and I gave them, I could only come up with $2,000. They originally wanted $7,000."
When the scammers called Harrison the next day, she told them she was driving to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to make what she thought was a legitimate payment. She later realized the scam.
"I immediately said, in my defense, this has got to be a scam, but they were so good," Harrison said. "They really made it sound like it was a sheriff’s office."
Older adults lost a reported $3.4 billion to scammers in 2023, according to the FBI.
In February, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes held a town hall in Sun City to address the growing crisis and report on recent trends.
Attorneys general nationwide have started town halls to spread awareness about scams against elders, as new types of fraud are uncovered.
Mayes discussed how artificial intelligence can now be used to copy voices of family members and friends, allowing criminals to manipulate victims. Usually, Mayes said, the criminals pose as the victims' grandchildren asking for bail money.
And calls aren’t the only tactic involving a phone. Many scam attempts now come via text message.
Mayes said senior citizens are increasingly the target of one of the oldest tricks in the book — romance scams. A perpetrator pretends to show affection for a victim, then entices them to send money.
"We're talking about entire nest eggs, life savings being drained away in the snap of your fingers, or in a heartbeat, in a moment when somebody makes a decision to go to a Bitcoin machine and give away $60,000 because they've fallen in love with somebody online," Mayes said.
Mayes said her office will continue to work with nonprofits that focus on scams targeting older adults.
"Nonprofits and organizations like AARP and the Better Business Bureau, they all play a part in helping us to create this network of security that we can use to envelop our senior citizens and all consumers to protect us," Mayes said.
R.O.S.E, or Resources/Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, does presentations like Mayes’ town hall across the state.
Brian Watson is the community outreach specialist at R.O.S.E. He knows the most common ploys.
"It's a random contact out of the blue, phone, email, text message, social media," Watson said. "Then they give you a compelling reason to act. Your bank account's compromised. Social Security is being shut down. Your grandchild is in jail. So they get your heart rate up. They get you to panic."
Watson said the scammer will then demand some form of payment that the victim might not be familiar with— crypto, wire transfers or prepaid cards.
"They get a sense of urgency," Watson said. "They don't want you to make a good decision. They don't want you to talk to someone else.”
Joyce Petrowski, the founder of R.O.S.E, started the nonprofit when one of her family members fell victim to a romance scam.
"The world is so much different today than it was 40 years ago. And so we said we're going to focus on education awareness and how to protect yourself so you don't become a victim," Petrowski said.
Harrison said she learned how easy that can be.
"I know all about schemes, even the bank had a warning, you know, on it, but how I fell for it, I don't know. And if somebody like me could easily fall for this, anybody could," Harrison said.
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