How to protect an elderly parent from phone scams

Why phone scams hit older adults hardest

Scams reach people of every age, but phone scams hit older adults especially hard. In the Federal Trade Commission's 2025 data, older adults who lost money to a scam that started with a phone call reported a median loss of $3,000, against $599 for scams that started on social media. People 80 and older reported far more losses from phone calls than from any other kind of first contact.

• $7.7 billionreported lost by people 60 and older in 2025, in 201,266 complaints to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center
• $38,500the average loss in those complaints; 12,444 people lost more than $100,000 (IC3, 2025)
• $3,000the median loss older adults reported to the FTC when a scam began with a phone call (2025)

Those are only the losses people reported. The FTC notes that most fraud is never reported to the government, so the figures cover only part of the harm.

The phone scams to know

When older adults lost money to a scam that began with a phone call in 2025, the FTC found these were the most common, in this order:

Business impersonators (36% of those reports)

The caller claims to be a bank's fraud department or a well-known company, and says there's a problem: a hacked account, a suspicious charge, an order your parent never placed. The fix they push costs money or account details. In older adults' 2025 reports of phone scams that didn't cost them money, the FTC says callers often posed as Medicare, banks, Amazon or the FTC itself. Hang up and call the company on the number from a statement or the back of a card.

Government impersonators (26%)

The caller says they're from Medicare, Social Security, the IRS or the police, and that a problem with benefits, taxes or the law can be settled only by paying right away. Government imposters took 41% of all the money older adults reported losing to phone scams in 2025. Medicare says it will never call to sell you anything or visit you at home, and not to join a Medicare plan over the phone unless you made the call.

Prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams (15%)

"You've won," followed by a fee, a tax or a shipping charge to collect. The FTC's rule is simple: real prizes are free, and if you have to pay to get a prize, it's a scam.

Tech support scams

A pop-up or a caller says the computer has a virus and offers to fix it. The FTC says legitimate tech companies won't contact you by phone, email or text to tell you there's a problem with your computer. People 60 and older reported $1.04 billion in tech and customer support losses to the FBI in 2025.

Family emergency scams

A caller pretends to be a grandchild or another relative in trouble and asks for money quickly and in secret. The FTC says older adults are more likely than younger adults to report losing money to scammers posing as friends or family. Our guide to the grandparent scam covers it in detail, including a family code word.

Warning signs on any call

The stories change, but scam calls share a few tells. Teach these rather than a list of every scam.

• They called you, and they want money or information. A caller who got in touch first and then asks for a payment, a code, an account number, a Medicare number or a Social Security number is the classic pattern.
• Pressure to act now. "Don't hang up." "This has to be done today." The FCC says scammers create a false sense of urgency.
• Secrecy. "Don't tell your family" or "don't tell the bank" is meant to stop you from checking.
• Unusual ways to pay. Gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or a Bitcoin ATM, a payment app, or cash handed to a courier. The FTC says no real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them.
• Official-looking caller ID. Caller ID can be faked, or "spoofed", so a call can look like it's from a bank, the government or a relative when it isn't.
• Threats or prizes. An arrest, a frozen account or lost benefits on one side; a big win that needs a fee on the other.

Steps that protect a parent

1. Talk early, and keep it about the scammers. Explain that these are professional criminals who target everyone, go through the warning signs above, and ask what calls your parent has been getting. A calm talk before anything happens makes it easier for them to tell you later.
2. Agree on three family rules and write them by the phone. We never pay anyone who called us first. We hang up and call back on a number we already know, from a statement, the back of a card or an official website. We check with family before sending money to anyone.
3. Set a family code word. The FBI suggests creating a secret word or phrase with your family to verify identity, and the FCC suggests a "safe word" chosen ahead of time. A caller who claims to be family and can't give it gets a call back on their real number.
4. Turn on the free call tools. iPhones can ask unknown callers who they are and why before the phone rings, Pixel phones have Call Screen, and T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon each offer a free spam-call tool. Our comparison of ways to screen a parent's calls covers each one.
5. Save the numbers that matter as contacts: family, doctors, the pharmacy and the bank. Call screening lets saved contacts ring through, and a familiar name on the screen helps your parent tell a stranger from someone they know.
6. Register on the Do Not Call Registry. It's free at DoNotCall.gov or 1-888-382-1222 (call from the number you're registering). Legitimate telemarketers must stop within 31 days; scammers ignore it, which is why the other steps matter. Our robocalls guide covers the rest of the free tools.
7. Ask the bank about a trusted contact. Banks and credit unions may let your parent name a trusted contact, such as an adult child, whom the bank can call if it can't reach your parent or is worried about fraud, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains. It doesn't give that person access to the account.
8. Guard the Medicare and Social Security numbers. Medicare advises giving them only to your doctor and people you know should have them, like insurers acting for you. Medicare itself calls and asks for personal information only in limited situations, like returning your call.

If a scammer is on the line right now

What to do in the first hours after a scam

Speed matters most. These steps follow the FTC's guide to what to do if you were scammed and the FBI's elder fraud advice:

1. Call the bank or card company right away to report the fraud and ask them to stop or reverse the payment. If a wire transfer was sent, the FBI advises asking for a recall and a hold harmless letter.
2. Gift cards: call the company that issued the card, say a scammer got the number and PIN, and ask for a refund. Keep the card and the receipt.
3. A money transfer service, payment app or cryptocurrency: contact the company, the app, the exchange or the crypto ATM operator immediately and ask them to reverse it.
4. Cash sent by mail: call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. For a fee, it can try to intercept a domestic package that hasn't been delivered yet.
5. Personal information shared: if a Social Security number was used, report it at IdentityTheft.gov and contact the three credit bureaus. If the scammer got into a computer, update its security software, run a scan and change passwords.
6. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, and to local police. The National Elder Fraud Hotline, 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), helps people 60 and older and their families report fraud, weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.
7. Watch for a second call. People who have lost money get targeted again by "recovery" scammers who offer to get it back for a fee. The FTC's advice: never pay upfront for help getting a refund.
8. Be kind. It happens to careful people, and what matters now is acting fast. AARP's Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360 (weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern), has fraud specialists who can help your family work out next steps.