Spring is the season for home repair and home improvement. Some older homeowners may have a hard time physically and/or financially maintaining their homes. It is because of this that they are targeted by scammers. Most contractors are honest and hardworking but how can you tell? Here are five ways to identify if a contractor is trying to defraud you. …
Common Medicare Scams and How to Protect Yourself It’s important to know what to watch for during open enrollment, when the nation’s 55 million Medicare recipients have the opportunity to change their Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. In addition to the challenge of going through the many plan options, experts say Medicare open enrollment is prime time for scam artists. …
Scam of the Month: Online Shopping Safety Tips Scam of the Month – Council on Aging: COVID-19 Scams Scam of the Month: Medicare Enrollment (October 2019) Scam of the Month: SSA Impostor Calls (May 2019) Scam of the Month: Contractor Scam (April 2019) Scam of the Month: Federal Trade Commission Scam Warning (February 2019) Scam of the Month (September 2018) …
SCAM ALERT: We’re hearing of a new twist to the IRS imposter scam: it’s now coming through the US Postal Service. How it Works: You receive an official-looking letter from the IRS saying you owe taxes related to the Affordable Care Act. The notice is labeled CP2000 for tax year 2015. The letter instructs payment be sent to the “IRS” care …
Virtual kidnapping is where the caller states that the grandchild has been taken and you need to pay ransom for them to be released. In this situation, no one has actually been kidnapped. The scammer is attempting to use fear and deception to elicit a quick response before the scam falls apart. The FBI has issued a warning that they …
Last month, the IRS warned of a new email scam that seemed to target Hotmail account users. With this scheme, phishing emails were sent out under the guise of being from the IRS. If you used a link within that email, it redirected you to a Microsoft page, where the user was asked to enter personal and/or financial information. The …
According to the National Council on Aging, financial scams targeting older adults have become the “crime of the 21st century” because seniors are thought to have significant savings and assets. Financial scams are often considered “low-risk” crimes because they often go unreported or can be difficult to prosecute. However, the effects can be devastating and leave victims in a very …