This Week in Elder Fraud · 2026-10-10 to 2026-10-16
Callers posing as officials and online romances led this week's reports
Romance scams were tagged in 78 of the 192 articles we reviewed and phone scams in 69, with New York, Florida and California appearing most often. The week's main stories were a Senate look at dating apps, a Georgia case of a caller posing as a federal agent, and several cases involving paid caregivers.
Drawn from 192 news reports collected by Elderus this week. Most reported from New York, Florida, California.
Callers posing as banks and government agencies
In Georgia, a woman lost $50,000 over three months to a caller posing as an FDIC agent, who had her wire money, buy gift cards and withdraw cash to "protect" her account. Her bank flagged the activity and her daughter alerted authorities, which led to an undercover operation and an arrest. In Pennsylvania, police were waiting when a man arrived to collect $28,000 from a person who had been told by a supposed Treasury caller that a pension account was compromised. Sheriff's offices in Lenawee and Winnebago counties report jury-duty calls that demand payment by gift card, kiosk or cryptocurrency.
If anyone says a bank or government agency needs you to move money to keep it safe, hang up and call the number on your card, and give me a call while you do.
Reported by finance.yahoo.com, yahoo.com, lenawee.mi.us, b105country.com, fraservalleytoday.ca
Romance scams and the dating apps they use
A Senate investigation found that nearly 1.5 million scammer accounts matched with U.S. users on Tinder and Hinge in the first nine months of 2025, and that Tinder had not updated most of its AI scam-detection models for years. Americans reported nearly $1.5 billion in romance scam losses in 2025. Tinder's new facial verification reduced interactions with scammers by over 70 percent. Separately, an international operation in Ghana and Nigeria led to 28 arrests, the rescue of 117 trafficking victims, and the removal of 3.7 million scam-linked accounts.
If someone you met online asks for money, even for a real-sounding emergency, I'd love to hear about it first, and there's no judgment from me.
Reported by consumeraffairs.com, mashable.com, bostonglobe.com, nbcnews.com, bbc.com, cyberscoop.com
Paid caregivers and others in positions of trust
In Sarasota, a caregiver and her boyfriend are accused of using a deceased client's credit card for more than 550 transactions totaling $240,000. A jewelry store owner's suspicion about repeated high-value purchases led to the report. In Palm Beach, a live-in caretaker is accused of taking about $22,000 from a 100-year-old in hospice care, and the victim's grandson found it after he took over power of attorney. In Port St. Lucie, a home health aide who pleaded guilty to about $20,000 in forged checks and card purchases was sentenced to 364 days in jail and barred from caregiving work.
Could we look over your bank and card statements together once a month, the way we do with other household bills?
Reported by hoodline.com, instoremag.com, cbs12.com, hoodline.com
Medicare open enrollment calls
Wisconsin's Senior Medicare Patrol and Better Business Bureau report many complaints about calls with spoofed caller IDs. The callers offer new Medicare cards or ask for urgent payments, and they request personal and financial details. Officials advise hanging up on unsolicited calls claiming to be Medicare and using official resources instead. A separate warning says real TRICARE representatives will not contact beneficiaries to collect payments.
If a call about Medicare comes out of the blue, you can hang up and use the number on your own Medicare card or the official Medicare website.
Reported by wbay.com, news8000.com, militarynews.com
New tools for reporting and blocking scams
Google is rolling out an opt-in Enhanced Protection mode in Google Messages that uses AI to review conversations with unknown senders. Android will also hide sensitive information during screen sharing and block unauthorized call forwarding. Florida's Department of Elder Affairs launched Operation Senior Shield, a free service that sends scam alerts by text, email or phone call. In Congress, two representatives introduced the One Front Door for Elder Fraud Act, which would create one hotline and website in place of the current system of 10 federal agencies and more than 50 state portals.
If you use an Android phone, I can help you switch on the extra scam protection in your messages app next time I visit.
Reported by theverge.com, androidpolice.com, news4jax.com, gluesenkampperez.house.gov
One person's story
A retired man in San Francisco lost $500,000 to a romance scam in which a woman claimed to be a cryptocurrency investor. Soon afterward, a different scammer, posing as an Army medic, approached him in much the same way. He began sending money again, including a Zelle payment, Apple gift cards, and wire attempts that his bank blocked, and he sought a $45,000 loan against his home. His son and the financial institutions stepped in before that loan went through.
Read the report at abc7news.com
Forward this to your parent
Something from this week's news that I wanted to share with you. Scammers keep posing as bank staff, government agents, Medicare representatives, and friendly strangers online, and they sound polished because it is their full-time job. One habit works against all of them. When someone asks for money, gift cards, or your card details, take a pause, hang up, and call back on a number you already trust, such as the one printed on your card or statement. A genuine caller will be fine with that. You are welcome to call me first, any hour, about anything that feels odd. I would be glad to help.
One thing to do this week
Sit down with your parent for ten minutes this week and save the real phone numbers for their bank and Medicare in their phone's contacts. Agree that a call to you or another trusted person comes before any payment, gift card purchase, or handing over of a card.
More on protecting an aging parent →