Scam calls are the leading cause of elder financial fraud. The FTC reports that adults 60 and older lost over $3.4 billion to scams in 2024, with phone calls as the most damaging channel.
The good news: scam calls follow patterns. If your parent can recognize the pattern, the call falls apart on its own. Here is how to teach the pattern.
The three most common scam call types
1. The impersonation scam
"This is the IRS / Social Security / Medicare / your bank." The caller claims to be from a trusted institution. They say there is a problem with the account. They ask for verification info (Social Security number, account number, password).
The pattern: Real institutions do not call out of the blue asking for sensitive info. The IRS communicates by mail first. Social Security never calls and threatens. Banks ask you to call back on the number on the back of your card.
2. The grandchild emergency scam
"Grandma, it's me. I'm in trouble. Please don't tell mom and dad." The caller pretends to be a grandchild in jail, in a car accident, or stranded abroad. Often uses AI voice cloning now.
The pattern: Real emergencies do not require sworn secrecy from family. Real emergencies do not require wiring money to an unfamiliar account. Real grandchildren are findable through the parents.
See our complete grandparent scam guide.
3. The tech support scam
"This is Microsoft / Apple / Amazon. Your computer has a virus / your account has been hacked. We need to connect to your computer to fix it."
The pattern: Microsoft and Apple do not call you. Amazon does not call you about hacks. Anyone who asks you to install software so they can "fix" your computer is a scammer.
See our tech support scam playbook.
The four-question filter (teach this to your parent)
For any unexpected call, run these questions:
- Did I call them, or did they call me? If they called you, the bar is much higher for trust.
- Are they creating urgency? "Right now," "today," "in the next hour" are scam tells. Real institutions give you time.
- Are they asking me to keep this from family? Real institutions never ask you to hide things from your spouse or kids.
- Are they asking me to pay with gift cards, wire transfer, or crypto? No legitimate organization accepts these. None.
Two or more "yes" answers means it is a scam. Hang up.
The "I will call you back" move
The single most powerful response to any suspicious call is: "I will call you back at the official number." Hang up. Look up the real number for the institution. Call that.
Scammers never let you do this. They will say "you cannot disconnect this call" or "the line will not work if you hang up." Both are lies. The fact that they resist hanging up is the proof it is a scam.
What to do if they have already given out info
If your parent gave away anything (SSN, bank info, password, money), act fast:
- If they gave a password: change it immediately. Same for any account using a similar password.
- If they gave bank info: call the bank's fraud line on the real number. Freeze the account.
- If they sent money: call the bank or money service immediately. Some wires can be reversed if caught in the first hour.
- If they gave SSN: place a credit freeze with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion (free, takes 5 minutes online).
- Report to the FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov.
The simple prevention setup
Three things to do on their phone:
- Turn on "Silence Unknown Callers" (iPhone: Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers). Calls from numbers not in their contacts go straight to voicemail.
- Use a call-blocking service. Most carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) include free spam call blocking. Make sure it is enabled.
- Print a reminder. Sticky note next to the phone: "If they called you, never give info. Call back on the real number."
The on-call safety net
Even with all this, a clever scammer will sometimes get through. The protection that actually works is having a second pair of eyes.
This is why Kinline exists. When your parent gets a suspicious call, text, or email, they forward it to Kinline. Kinline reads it, flags the scam in seconds, alerts you immediately, and tells your parent what to do. The money never moves. The password never gets handed over.
For more on related scams, see our roundup of the top scams targeting seniors and Medicare scam calls.