Scams Targeting Seniors in 2026: The 5 Hitting Adults Over 60 Right Now

Last year, Americans over 60 reported more than $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. That came from over 201,000 people, with an average loss above $38,000.

Here is the good news. Almost every scam behind those numbers follows a script, and every script has a flaw. Once you know the tell, the scam falls apart in the first minute of the call.

These are the five scams targeting seniors most actively as we head into fall 2026, how each one works, the one detail that gives it away, and exactly what to do. Fraudsters run other plays too, from romance scams to fake lottery winnings, but the five below are doing the most damage to older Americans right now.

Why scammers target seniors

Criminals target older adults for practical reasons: a lifetime of savings, good credit, and a habit of answering the phone politely. They also count on shame keeping victims quiet. None of that is a weakness in you. It is a business model built by professionals, and knowing their scripts is what breaks it. Financial scams targeting older adults follow the same playbook every season; only the costumes change.

1. The “your money is in danger” call (the phantom hacker scam)

How it works. It starts with a false alarm: a pop-up, text, or call saying your bank account, Amazon account, or Social Security number has been compromised. You get transferred to someone claiming to be from the FBI, the FTC, or your bank’s fraud department. They say your money must be moved “somewhere safe” right away. Victims are told to wire funds, buy gold bars, or hand cash to a courier who comes to the door.

This one is doing the most damage per victim. The FTC reports a more than four-fold increase since 2020 in older adults losing $10,000 or more to government and business impersonators. Losses over $100,000 in this category grew eight-fold, from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024. The FBI has issued specific warnings about the gold bar and cash courier version.

The tell. No real government agency and no real bank will ever tell you to move your money to protect it. Not to a “safe account,” not into gold, not to a courier. That instruction, by itself, is the entire scam.

What to do. Hang up. Then call your bank yourself, using the number on the back of your card. If the caller claimed to be a federal agency, look up that agency’s public number and call it directly. Never use a number the caller gives you.

2. The tech support pop-up scam

How it works. A warning fills your computer screen, sometimes with an alarm sound, saying your machine is infected. It shows a phone number for “Microsoft” or “Apple” support. The person who answers asks to connect to your computer remotely, then “finds” a problem, and often claims your bank accounts were exposed too. From there it turns into the phantom hacker scam above.

Adults over 60 reported $1.04 billion in losses to tech and customer support scams in 2025, the second largest category in the FBI’s data.

The tell. Real security warnings from Microsoft, Apple, or your antivirus software never include a phone number to call. A phone number in a virus warning means the warning is the virus.

What to do. Do not call the number and do not click anything in the pop-up. Close the browser, or hold the power button and restart the computer if the screen is frozen. Never let a stranger install remote access software. If you are worried the computer is actually infected, ask a family member or a local repair shop you chose yourself.

3. The AI voice clone “grandparent” emergency

How it works. The phone rings and it sounds exactly like your grandchild, crying, saying they were in an accident or arrested and need money right now. They beg you not to tell their parents. Then a “lawyer” or “officer” takes over and explains how to send the money.

The voice can be fake even when it sounds real. Scammers can clone a voice from short audio clips pulled from social media, and the FCC has warned that grandparent scams are getting more sophisticated because of it. The FBI’s 2025 report counted more than 3,100 complaints from adults over 60 involving AI, with losses over $352 million.

The tell. Three things arrive together: extreme urgency, a demand for secrecy, and an unusual way to pay (wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or a courier). Real emergencies never require you to keep them secret from the rest of the family.

What to do. Hang up and call your grandchild or their parents at the numbers you already have. Ninety seconds of checking beats any pressure on that call. Many families now agree on a code word that a real relative in trouble would know. Set one up this week; it costs nothing.

4. Crypto investment scams and the Bitcoin ATM

How it works. This one usually starts slow. Someone reaches contact through a text “sent to the wrong number,” a social media message, or an online friendship, then introduces an investment platform with impressive returns. The platform is fake. Early “profits” appear on screen to encourage bigger deposits, but the money is already gone. In other versions, a scammer running one of the schemes above sends the victim to a Bitcoin ATM in a gas station or grocery store to deposit cash and scan a QR code.

Investment fraud cost adults over 60 more than $3.5 billion in 2025, the largest category in the FBI’s data. At Bitcoin ATMs specifically, the FTC found that people over 60 were more than three times as likely as younger adults to lose money, and about two out of every three dollars lost went from an older adult, with a median loss of $10,000.

The tell. Two phrases end the conversation: “guaranteed returns” and “deposit the cash at a Bitcoin ATM.” No legitimate investment guarantees profits, and no legitimate business, agency, or advisor will ever direct you to feed cash into a cryptocurrency machine.

What to do. Never invest with someone you have only met online, no matter how long you have been talking. Before putting money anywhere new, talk it over with someone you trust and check the seller with your state securities regulator. Once cash goes into a crypto ATM, it is nearly impossible to recover, so the decision has to happen before you drive there.

5. Medicare open enrollment scams

How it works. Medicare open enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and the calls, texts, and emails start weeks early. Callers claim you need a new Medicare card, that your benefits are about to be canceled, or that you qualify for free equipment or a “senior health package.” The goal is your personal information (your Medicare number or Social Security number) or a plan switch you never agreed to.

Consumer protection offices are already flagging a wave of fake “new card” offers this year. There is no new Medicare card rollout in 2026. You only get a new card if you request a replacement or if fraud was committed in your name.

The tell. Medicare does not call you out of the blue, and it never asks you to confirm your Medicare or Social Security number to keep your coverage. An unexpected call about your Medicare card is a scam call.

What to do. Hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE if you have any question about your coverage. Make enrollment changes only through medicare.gov, the official phone line, or a counselor you sought out yourself, such as your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Treat your Medicare number like a credit card number.

If a scam already reached you: reporting elder fraud

If any of this has happened to you or a parent, you are in large company. The FTC told Congress that reported fraud losses among adults 60 and older reached $2.4 billion in 2024, roughly four times the 2020 figure, and those are only the people who spoke up. Fraudsters are professionals who run these scripts on seniors all day. Falling for a professional is not a personal failure.

Here is the checklist:

• Act on the money first. If you sent funds recently, call your bank or card company immediately and ask them to reverse or freeze the transfer. Speed matters more than anything else.
• Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and know that the National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) can walk you or a senior you love through every step. Reports build the cases that shut these operations down.
• Report internet-based scams to the FBI at ic3.gov. For large recent wire transfers, the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team can sometimes freeze funds.
• Talk it through with a person. The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 is free, and the volunteers have heard every version of every scam. No judgment, just next steps.
• Watch your credit. If a scammer got your Social Security or Medicare number, consider freezing your credit with the three bureaus. If you would rather have monitoring handled for you, we keep a vetted list in the identity protection and credit monitoring category on our perks page, chosen editorially, like everything we recommend.

The one habit that beats every senior scam

Every scam on this list needs you to act inside the first phone call. So take away the phone call. When anything urgent arrives about your money, your family, or your benefits, hang up and reach the real organization or the real person through a number you already have. That single habit defeats the impersonator, the fake technician, the cloned voice, the crypto coach, and the Medicare caller alike.

Scams change every season. We track them so you do not have to. Subscribe to Retired Perks for a short weekly alert on what is circulating and the one tell that gives it away.

Sources

• FBI IC3 data: Older adults hit hard by fraud in 2025 (AARP)
• FTC press release: More than four-fold increase in impersonation losses among older adults (August 2025)
• FTC Data Spotlight: False alarm, real scam. How scammers are stealing older adults’ life savings
• FTC press release: Annual report to Congress on protecting older adults (December 2025)
• FTC Data Spotlight: Bitcoin ATMs, a payment portal for scammers
• FBI Boston: Warning on gold bar and bulk cash courier scams
• FCC scam alert: Grandparent scams get more sophisticated
• AARP: Biggest fraud and scams to watch for in 2026
• AARP Fraud Watch Network
• The Medicare Family: Medicare card scam warning for 2026