Voice Calls That Should Raise Your Suspicion
Here are actual scam phone pitches logged at the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, Impostor fraud, in which criminals pretend to be law enforcement, government officials or other authorities, is now the number one type of consumer scam in America. The better you are at detecting it, the safer you become.
Just last night I received a robocall telling me that I was in violation of a certain tax code and that the IRS had left several voicemails and texts and that I should contact them immediately to avoid severe penalties. I chuckled and hung up.
Or how about the one where someone calls, you answer with hello, they ask if this is Mr. or Mrs. Jones and you reply with “yes” or they ask if you can hear them and you reply with “yes”. They have recorded your voice saying “yes” and then use that recorded “yes” response to commit fraudulent acts. NEVER reply with a simple “yes” response. The better response is “who were you trying to reach” or “I can hear you just fine”. The BEST response is “I’m not interested” and hang up! While many think this is rude, I wonder if you would feel the need to be polite to someone who is trying to rob you in person. How is hiding behind a phone any differently than trying to rob you at gunpoint?
Scenario 1: “Hello, is this Mrs. Perl? This is Bill from Genetic Testing Services. Your doctor reached out to us because he is concerned with the cancer that runs in your family and would like you to take a DNA swab test. This test is covered by your insurance company and we just need your policy number to process and ship out the order.”
Scenario 2: “Good morning, this is Apple Inc. We are calling to tell you there is a problem with your computer, and someone has placed malware on it. We will need you to download AnyDesk onto your computer so we can help you remove it.”
Scenario 3: “This is Agent McMurphy from the IRS, and I am calling to inform you that you have a federal arrest warrant for not paying your taxes. Please press 1 on your keypad to be connected to my desk so we can clear up this matter.”
Scenario 4: “Aunt Julie, it’s me, Henry. I know we haven’t spoken in a while but I need your help. Please don’t tell Mom and Dad. They’re dealing with enough right now with Mom’s cancer treatment. I was downtown with some friends and got arrested because my friend was driving and was drunk and we hit a pregnant woman! I need bail money to get out of jail.”
Scenario 5: “Hello, sir, this is Amazon Security calling to inform you that there is an attempt to order items on your account. We can help with the refund, but I just need a few pieces of information from you to get this started.”
Scenario 6: “This is Xcel Energy, and we are notifying you that you have missed your last two payments. Unfortunately your electricity will be shut off by the end of today, unless you can pay immediately over the phone.”
Scenario 7: “This is the Social Security Administration, and your Social Security check has been frozen due to fraudulent activity. Press 1 to take care of this matter.”
Advice: Hang up when you receive any phone call that you suspect is Imposter Fraud. Federal, state and local government officials will never call to suggest that you need to pay them money over the phone or ask for personal information during a call. That just does not happen with a legitimate call. The same is true of companies that provide security services for software, mail order, etc. Legitimate companies already have your information and should not need for you to give them anything or verify anything for them.
Authored by Amy Nofziger, Director of the AARP Fraud Network.
That Text Might Be a Trap!
Texting and messaging scam losses are on the rise as well. The following scenarios are true stories of financial fraud resulting in losses related to text messages. Especially prevalent are those that strike when we are at our most vulnerable.
Take John Jones for example. He had been out of work for several months due to an illness and was back on the job market. At 69 years old, John was not what you would consider a tech savvy person, so when he received a text message offering him a $30/hr work-from-home customer service position, he was delighted. He took the position as the company was one he had applied with on one of the online platforms and whose name he was familiar with. It did give him pause when the only interview they wanted was a short phone interview, but he assumed that his previous experience as a data analyst had impressed them. They sent him checks for ordering equipment and had him send some money back to them. But the checks they had sent him were bad and he ended up losing $15k of his savings.
Like John Jones, more and more people are falling victim to text message fraud, especially prevalent among the senior population. In 2024, consumers lost $470 million to these scams, which is five times more than in 2020. Those figures are directly from the Federal Trade Commission. Why the surge? Because scammers know that we’ve caught on (for the most part) to their unsolicited phone call and email approach, but our guard is down when it comes to texts and messaging. For some odd reason, people are more trusting with text messaging – even when the sender is unknown.
We’re also wired to display good manners by responding quickly and with a courteous reply. Scammers know that consumers open 98% of text messages and respond to 45% but open just 20% of emails and respond to roughly 6%.
Recently, a short text popped up on Mirabelle’s phone. It simply said “hello”. Mirabelle, a recently widowed 67-year-old homemaker, responded with “hello, who is this?” She thought it was a friend checking up on her after the recent death of her husband. The scammer texted back, “oh, isn’t this Ginny?”. Mirabelle replied that the texter had the wrong number and erased the conversation. But the mysterious texter kept on chatting and ended up scamming Mirabelle out of close to $105k. Desperate to recover her money, Mirabelle lost another $11k to a scam-recovery company that was also fraudulent.
But the losses go beyond money. This is basically a form of organized crime. These are professional criminals and this is their job. They want to be good at their job, just like you want to be good at yours! The variety of text message scams surfacing in 2025 is stunning according to the Federal Trade Commission. Text frauds involving phony package deliveries, bogus job offers, alerts for items that you’ve never ordered, or wrong number texts like the one Mirabelle received. Text scammers also impersonate banks, credit card companies, computer tech-support services, Social Security, the IRS, and Medicare. Even more troubling now is that this scamming has filtered down to include toll road agencies!
So how do we protect ourselves from the insanity? Any Nofziger, director of the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline offers this advice:
Filter unknown numbers. Set up your phone to filter texts from numbers not in your contact list. This is obviously difficult if you use your phone for business like I do, but there is no issue with letting calls go to voicemail if you do not recognize the number. Once you listen to the voicemail, however, make sure to return the call promptly. I have my phone set to send an automated message telling the caller to send a text or leave a voicemail if I don’t answer. If the call is legitimate, they will do as instructed.
Read the text message carefully and slowly. If a text requires urgent action, it’s likely a scam.
Don’t respond. Ignore texts from unknown numbers. Legitimate senders will find other ways to reach you.
Verify numbers. If a text asks you to call a bank or other company, look up the number. If you use the phone number from a scam text, you could be calling directly into the scammer’s call center. Yes – they do have call centers! Remember what I said about organized crime?
Beware of red flags. Do they want you to call a number or click a link or are they saying that you owe them money? These are all huge signs of a scam! If the word “crypto” is mentioned, delete and block!
And last, but not least, you can reply “STOP” to discontinue receiving automated marketing messages from companies that you’ve ordered merchandise from. You can also delete and block any number and it is highly recommended that you do so!
