Protecting the elderly from financial scams

Financial scams targeting seniors are on the rise. A group called R.O.S.E., or Resources Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, is working to educate seniors on how to avoid being scammed.

Brian Watson, Community Outreach Specialist for R.O.S.E., retired in 2023 after 28 years as a Special Agent and PIO with the IRS. Now he is working to warn seniors about fraud. Watson gives interactive presentations to 55+ communities, churches, independent living centers, senior centers and more, and also has a newsletter and radio show.

Watson joined “Arizona Horizon” to tell us more about fraud and how R.O.S.E. can help.

According to Watson, here are some of the most common types of scams seniors might encounter:

Crypto Scams

“The biggest trend we’re seeing right now is scammers sending people to crypto ATMs, having them feed cash into a crypto ATM, thinking they’re investing, or that they’re paying off a fine, but they’re not,” Watson said.

Tech Support Scams

Another common trend today is a tech support scam. As Watson explained it, “Someone has a problem with their computer, and they think, ‘Well, I’ll just call Amazon, or I’ll call Google.’ And when you go online and use a search engine, you actually end up calling a scammer. And when they get ahold of your computer, they do something called remote access where they get control of your computer, and when they have control of your computer, they can take everything you have,” Watson said.

Pig Butchering

“Pig butchering is basically a romance scam where the scammers convince their victims to invest in cryptocurrency. I’ve met a lady who lost $700,000 to a pig butchering scheme here in Arizona. She’s a very smart lady. She was just going up against someone who is far more sophisticated than she is,” Watson said.

How can seniors and others protect themselves from these scams?

“My friend Amy at AARP did a presentation with me and said, ‘You need to be a sloth. Move slow. Don’t click on anything. You want to get a second opinion. You want to phone a friend.’ So if you’re not sure, sleep on it. Turn your computer off. Talk to a family member or friend so that you don’t rush into anything,” Watson said.