This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. Every family situation is different, and you should consult with appropriate professionals about your specific circumstances.

Phone Scams Targeting the Elderly — The Calls That Never Stop

Your parent's phone rings. It's someone claiming to be from the IRS. Your parent owes back taxes. They need to pay immediately or face arrest. Or it's someone claiming to be from a utility company. The power will be shut off unless your parent pays a bill immediately. Or it's someone from a tech company. Your parent's computer has been infected with malware. Or it's someone claiming to be the police. Your parent has an outstanding warrant.

The callers don't just call once. They call repeatedly. Your parent tries ignoring them, but the calls keep coming. Different numbers, similar stories. The pressure increases. The consequences threatened get more serious. The callers become more aggressive if your parent doesn't comply.

Phone scams targeting the elderly are relentless because they're profitable. Scammers call thousands of people. Some hang up immediately. Some fall for the scam and pay. That percentage of people who pay makes the whole operation worthwhile. Your parent might get dozens of these calls before one finally lands with someone who's lonely, scared, or vulnerable enough to pay.

Understanding how phone scams work and what your parent can do stops the scams from being effective and protects your parent from financial and emotional harm.

Understanding the Basics

Phone scams targeting elderly people typically follow a pattern. The scammer creates a fake authority. IRS agent, police officer, utility company representative, tech support, bank representative, immigration officer. The authority comes with a fake problem. You owe money, your account has been compromised, a warrant has been issued, your computer has been hacked, there's been fraudulent activity, something is wrong.

The problem requires immediate action. You have to pay now or face consequences. The consequences are serious: arrest, deportation, foreclosure, loss of money, loss of service. You can't call back or think about it. You have to act in the next thirty minutes.

The scammer asks for money, usually through a method that can't be reversed. Wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, direct bank transfer. They won't accept credit cards because chargebacks are possible. They want money that moves in one direction only.

The pressure escalates if your parent hesitates. If your parent says "I need to think about this," the scammer will insist. If your parent says "I'm not sure," the scammer will be more aggressive. The urgency and pressure are designed to override your parent's better judgment and make them act in panic mode.

The variations are endless. Sometimes it's a money problem. Sometimes it's a health problem. Sometimes it's a legal problem. Sometimes the scammer claims to be a family member. But the core is always the same: artificial urgency, fake authority, and a demand for money.

Your Parent's Specific Situation

How often is your parent getting these calls? Once a week? Multiple times a day? If your parent is being targeted repeatedly, the scammers have identified your parent as someone they want to keep trying until they succeed.

Is your parent answering all calls? Some elderly people answer every time the phone rings because they worry they might miss an important call. If your parent is answering all calls, they're exposed to more scam attempts than someone who screens calls.

How much does your parent understand about these scams? Has anyone warned your parent about them? Does your parent recognize the patterns? Or does your parent take the calls at face value, not suspecting that something might be fraudulent?

Does your parent have a history of compliance with authority? People who have always paid their taxes on time, always paid their bills, never had legal trouble might be more vulnerable to an IRS scam. They take authority seriously and assume that if someone claims to be from the IRS and says they owe money, they probably do.

What would happen if your parent fell for one of these scams? Could your parent spare the money, or would a large payment create financial hardship? If losing $5,000 or $10,000 would be devastating, the stakes are high.

How connected is your parent to family or friends who could help if your parent got scammed? If your parent is isolated and has no one to verify situations with, they're more vulnerable than someone with regular contact to people who can help.

Taking Next Steps

Have a direct conversation with your parent about these scams. Your parent doesn't have to be afraid or paranoid about it. Just direct: "There are scams going around where people call pretending to be from the government or banks and pressure people to send money. The IRS would never call you to demand payment. Neither would the police. If you get a call like that, it's a scam."

Establish a rule: if someone calls claiming to be from an authority asking for money or personal information, your parent should hang up and call that agency directly using a number they know is correct. The agency's real number is on bills, on their website, or in the phone book. They don't use the number the caller provided.

Give your parent permission to be rude. Scammers expect people to be polite. If your parent feels uncomfortable, they should just hang up. They don't have to listen to the whole call. They don't have to be respectful to a scammer. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Hanging up is always an option.

Help your parent set up call screening on their phone. Most modern phones have the ability to filter unknown numbers or suspicious numbers. Services like Nomorobo can identify and block known scam numbers. These aren't perfect, but they reduce the volume of suspicious calls getting through.

Help your parent put their number on the Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov. This doesn't stop all scams, but it does reduce some of the telemarketing calls. Government agencies and nonprofits might not have to honor it, so scam calls claiming to be from the government will still come through.

Suggest that your parent uses the phone company's call-blocking features if available. AT&T Call Protect, Verizon Call Filter, and T-Mobile Scam Shield are tools that help block suspected scam calls.

If your parent's phone is ringing constantly with scam calls, sometimes the best step is to change the phone number. It's inconvenient, but if scammers have identified your parent as someone to target repeatedly, changing the number stops the harassment. Your parent will need to give the new number to people they actually want to hear from, but that's a relatively small list.

If your parent falls for a scam and sends money, the steps are immediate. Call the payment provider to report the fraud. If it's a wire transfer, the bank might be able to intercept it. If it's a gift card, the card might not have been used yet. If it's a cryptocurrency transfer, recovery is much harder. But you report it anyway because law enforcement needs to know.

Report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The FTC tracks these patterns and uses the information to shut down scam operations.

Your parent also should report the scam to the actual agency the scammer claimed to represent. If it was an IRS scam, report it to the IRS at irs.gov. If it was a bank, report it to the bank. These agencies want to know about scams being perpetrated in their name.

The core protection is skepticism. If someone is calling and creating pressure and demanding money, it's a scam. Real creditors, real government agencies, real companies don't work that way. They send official mail. They give you time to respond. They don't demand that you buy gift cards and read off numbers. If your parent's basic rule is "if someone's pressuring me for money on the phone, it's a scam," they'll stop most scams in their tracks.

How To Help Your Elders is an educational resource. We do not provide medical, legal, or financial advice. The information in this article is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. If you are concerned about a loved one's cognitive health or safety, consult with their healthcare provider or contact your local Area Agency on Aging for guidance and support.