How to Protect an Aging Parent's Money From Scams and Fraud

Scammers go where the money is, and for many fraud rings that means older adults — people who may have savings, home equity, and established credit. Helping an aging parent reduce scam risk is not about taking over their finances or treating them as fragile. It is about adding a few consent-led guardrails that create time to verify unusual requests and a clearer response if suspicious activity appears.

Why an aging parent’s money is a target

Fraudsters target older adults on purpose. Adults 60 and older reported $7.7 billion lost to fraud in 2025 across more than 201,000 complaints — roughly a 60 percent jump from the year before (FBI IC3). Reported figures do not include incidents that never reach the agencies collecting complaints. Imposter scams alone accounted for about $3.5 billion (FTC). You can see more elder fraud statistics for the full picture.

The reasons are simple. Many older adults have assets worth stealing, they are more likely to be home and reachable by phone, and they may be less familiar with newer tricks like spoofed caller ID or crypto “opportunities.” None of that is a knock on your parent — it is just why the guardrails below are worth setting up before anyone needs them.

Start with a conversation, not a takeover

The most important step happens before any settings change. Talk with your parent, not at them. Frame it as protecting what they have worked for, and agree together on one simple rule: pause and verify before sending money or sharing personal information with anyone who contacts them out of the blue. That habit interrupts the urgency and secrecy many scam scripts rely on.

Keep the tone collaborative — the goal is a parent who feels supported, not managed. Our guide on how to talk to aging parents about accepting help and the big-picture how to spot any scam overview are both good to read and share together.

Put guardrails on the accounts

This is the practical core. A few bank and card settings do most of the work:

• Turn on alerts. Set text or email notifications for transactions over a set amount, low balances, and any new payee. Alerts turn a quiet theft into something the family sees the same day.
• Become a trusted contact. Most banks and brokerages let your parent name a “trusted contact” the institution can reach if they suspect exploitation. It does not give you control — it gives them another set of eyes.
• Consider read-only access. Many banks offer view-only logins or authorized-viewer roles, so you can help watch for trouble while your parent keeps full control of their money.
• Review statements together. A monthly ten-minute look at the statement catches small unauthorized charges and the “test” transactions scammers often run first.
• Know the money red flags. No legitimate business or agency asks to be paid in gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or payment-app transfers to a stranger. Those methods are fast and nearly impossible to reverse, which is exactly why scammers demand them.

Different warning signs call for different first steps. A fake security alert or “safe account” instruction is usually a bank impersonation scam. Changed closing instructions belong in the wire-transfer and business-email scam playbook. An unfamiliar trading platform, withdrawal fee, or guaranteed return points toward an investment scam. If the suspicious item is a message or screenshot rather than activity inside the real bank account, ScamScan can help your family slow down and review the warning signs together.

Freeze credit and shrink the target

Two more moves make your parent a smaller, harder target:

• Consider a credit freeze at all three bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Freezes are free and can restrict many new-credit checks until lifted, but they do not stop fraud on existing accounts or every form of identity theft.
• Review public broker and people-search listings. A data-removal service, or KinKeeper’s free opt-out guides, can help submit removals to covered sites. Opt-outs may reduce some public details, but they cannot prevent scam contact or remove information from breaches, private databases, public records, or every broker.

And guard the numbers that unlock everything: a Social Security or Medicare number, a bank password, or a one-time security code should never be shared with someone who called, texted, or emailed first.

Make account activity easier to review

Even with guardrails, financial scams can be difficult to see because they often rely on secrecy and isolation. A parent being coached by a scammer may grow anxious, withdraw, or start moving money in ways that are out of character. With the account holder’s permission, bank alerts, statement reviews, and read-only monitoring can make supported account activity easier to notice and discuss. Our guide to read-only financial monitoring for aging parents explains what that review layer can show, what it cannot do, and the questions to ask before connecting an account. A regular point of contact can also keep the conversation open without proving that anything is wrong.

KinKeeper Wellbeing Calls provide a scheduled AI call and share the completed-or-missed outcome with the Kin Circle. KinKeeper Money offers read-only Transaction Monitoring that can bring supported account activity forward for human review. Neither service determines that exploitation occurred, prevents a loss, or replaces a bank, Adult Protective Services, law enforcement, emergency services, or professional advice.

If the account holder wants that added review layer, join the Money waitlist. Keep bank alerts and the family’s written response plan in place either way.

If your parent has already lost money

If a scammer has already gotten through, move quickly and skip the blame — anyone can be caught off guard, and shame only keeps people from asking for help.

• Call the bank or card issuer immediately to try to stop or reverse the transfer and lock the account.
• Freeze credit at all three bureaus and change important passwords.
• Report it. File with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov; for identity theft, get a step-by-step recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.
• Contact Adult Protective Services if you suspect elder financial exploitation, especially if the person involved is a caregiver or family member. Our guide to elder financial abuse signs and reporting explains the different reporting paths.
• Watch for the second wave. Scammers often circle back to people who already paid, this time posing as a “recovery” service that can get the money back for a fee. It cannot.

Sources

• FTC: Protecting Older Consumers
• FTC: How To Avoid a Scam
• FBI IC3: Elder Fraud
• IdentityTheft.gov: Recovery plans