FBI - Billion Dollar Scam emptying elderly retirement accounts.

[alarmguy]

To this day I dont understand it. I feel for these people, it is preventable. Security 101. Why can't we somehow educate them? Some type of financial disclosure in simple writing required with signature let's say when filing a tax return.
I guess there will always be victims. It's so needless though. Ignore any messages or phone calls you get. Then go to your bank statement and call the number on the statement if you are concerned. Never take directions from anyone contacting you. You make the call, you make the contact.

This is such a red flag but people follow what they are told. It's a sophisticated operation for sure, but it should never make it past Step #1 and people should just hang up or ignore the message. Anyway, if you know of someone, a loved one, family member or friend. Make them aware.

"In the first phase, a tech support impostor will contact victims through text, phone call or email, then direct them to download a program allowing the scammer remote access to their computer. Then, the scammer asks victims to open their financial accounts to "determine whether there have been any unauthorized charges," which the FBI says "is most lucrative for targeting."

Here is the story -
https://www.foxnews.com/us/fbi-warn...ining-retirement-funds-expert-says-ai-driving

"Pete Nicoletti, chief information security officer at Check Point, told Fox News Digital the scam has become "devastating" for seniors, and said families need to have discussions with their loved ones to keep them protected."

 

[The_Jeff]

It's because 65 years ago people had manners and thought it was rude to hang up the telephone.

Off Topic, I'm getting about five emails per day reading "thank you for your $400 purchase, if this was not you, call 1-800..."

 

[AKhan87]

It's because 65 years ago people had manners and thought it was rude to hang up the telephone.

Off Topic, I'm getting about five emails per day reading "thank you for your $400 purchase, if this was not you, call 1-800..."

if you mark them spam, it should recognize them going forward and you wouldn't notice or see them again

I get 3-5 automated scam calls per day, I just wish, they weren't able to have access to American phone numbers to spam call.

 

[alarmguy]

It's because 65 years ago people had manners and thought it was rude to hang up the telephone.
...

You know, this is a good point. We need to correct this with our friends and loved ones.
OMG - yes, some of the stuff we get looks so legitimate. Ignore and move on they must be taught.

 

[gman2304]

I’m afraid to click on the link……

 

[DougR]

If the caller is not in my contact list, I don't answer it.

 

[alarmguy]

I’m afraid to click on the link……

*LOL* this was a good one!

 

[ATex7239]

It's because 65 years ago people had manners and thought it was rude to hang up the telephone.

Young people do something ignorant and they’re called stupid. Older people do something ignorant and they’re called too polite. That’s rich. This comes from ignorance, plain and simple.

This is why I’ll never understand the “I’m too old school and I don’t want to change” mentality. People need to continue learning, changing, and adapting because the world is going to change around them like it or not.

 

[The_Jeff]

Young people do something ignorant and they’re called stupid. Older people do something ignorant and they’re called too polite. That’s rich. This comes from ignorance, plain and simple.

Ignorance is not the word I'd use, maybe naive. Ignorance is choosing to not learn given the opportunity while naivety implies one just wasn't exposed to the situation yet.

There are plenty of stubborn old people who don't like being told what to do by their kids, even if it's well-meaning, but they don't deserve being criminally ripped off because of it.

 

[4wd]

It's because 65 years ago people had manners and thought it was rude to hang up the telephone.

Young folks don’t know how satisfying it was to slam a real phone down

 

[edyvw]

You know, this is a good point. We need to correct this with our friends and loved ones.
OMG - yes, some of the stuff we get looks so legitimate. Ignore and move on they must be taught.

The most susceptible generation to propaganda and misinformation are baby boomers. They grew up in times of Walter Cronkite, educated articles in NYT, WSJ, WaPo, etc.
They approach blogs, opinions on X, etc., in the same manner.
Jonathan Haidt, foremost expert on the internet and addiction, especially among kids, did extensive research on this topic and concluded that the older the generation, the more prone they are to misinformation, as they grew up with trustworthy sources. The younger generation, on the other hand, grew up with a slew of untrustworthy sources. They know how to disseminate information better than someone born in 1946 (or older).
That is why scammers target them. This could be regulated, prevented, but that would also limit spam calls by banks, various financial institutions, PAC's etc.

 

[ATex7239]

Ignorance is not the word I'd use, maybe naive. Ignorance is choosing to not learn given the opportunity while naivety implies one just wasn't exposed to the situation yet.

There are plenty of stubborn old people who don't like being told what to do by their kids, even if it's well-meaning, but they don't deserve being criminally ripped off because of it.

I can agree with that.

 

[edyvw]

Ignorance is not the word I'd use, maybe naive. Ignorance is choosing to not learn given the opportunity while naivety implies one just wasn't exposed to the situation yet.

There are plenty of stubborn old people who don't like being told what to do by their kids, even if it's well-meaning, but they don't deserve being criminally ripped off because of it.

It is social Darwinism, regardless how cruel that sounds, it is.
However, that is why we have government. But regulating this would also hurt legal institutions who also pray on snriors or those who are not financially educated.

 

[ATex7239]

Young folks don’t know how satisfying it was to slam a real phone down

I remember crank calling random numbers as a kid. But *69 and caller ID ruined those antics.

 

[The_Jeff]

It is social Darwinism, regardless how cruel that sounds, it is.
However, that is why we have government. But regulating this would also hurt legal institutions who also pray on snriors or those who are not financially educated.

It IS awful, because when our elders were building their nest eggs, working harder than I do, money went in a bank and it was safe there. The teller knew you by name and if someone cleared out your account they'd get popped for forgery and the bank made you whole for not properly comparing the fake check against your signature card. There weren't any back doors for online banking, apps, or "easier" ways to get one's money.

Now it's a brave new world where even when you think you lock down your credit rating and ID they sneak in behind you and make it easy to unlock because that's how profits are made off of banking products.

Would be lovely if we could just pin a note to our credit ratings, a la Martin Luther, and declare that "anyone lending money to someone saying they're me is on the hook 100%" and have it legally binding but that'd be a hit to the banks that rule the world.

 

[Furious]

I’m afraid to click on the link……

When I clicked on the link it asked me to subscribe with my email to this propaganda news site.

 

[Variant_S]

The most susceptible generation to propaganda and misinformation are baby boomers. They grew up in times of Walter Cronkite, educated articles in NYT, WSJ, WaPo, etc.
They approach blogs, opinions on X, etc., in the same manner.
Jonathan Haidt, foremost expert on the internet and addiction, especially among kids, did extensive research on this topic and concluded that the older the generation, the more prone they are to misinformation, as they grew up with trustworthy sources. The younger generation, on the other hand, grew up with a slew of untrustworthy sources. They know how to disseminate information better than someone born in 1946 (or older).
That is why scammers target them. This could be regulated, prevented, but that would also limit spam calls by banks, various financial institutions, PAC's etc.

I suspect that they are targeted because they likely have money.

 

[JohnnyG]

I think these scams are targeting seniors specifically, and tailored to their considerations for younger relatives or friends.
Such as the call my neighbor received telling her that her "grandson" was in jail and needed bail money.
$2000.00 later, and grandson was fine.

Let's face it, who wants to target poor broke millennial's when older people have the cash and are more susceptible to the fraud?

Sure, ignorance may have a little to do with it, but aren't the scammers the TRULY ignorant ones?

Certain attitudes in this thread seem to say that older people refuse to learn. With that kind of attitude, maybe, someday such persons will be lucky enough to find out first hand.

 

[4wd]

I remember crank calling random numbers as a kid. But *69 and caller ID ruined those antics.

Hello, do you have Sir Walter Raleigh in the can?
Yes.
Well, you need to let him out for a book signing at 9 …

 

[oldhp]

My wife got scammed and needed more money. She went to her Mom. MIL gave her over $300,00 to get a promised million dollars to help her family out. I live in a small town with "Home Town" banks. "THE HOME TOWN BANKS" told MIL this is a scam, don't do it. I had no idea any of this was going on. Neither did MIL's other 5 kids. Until bank account was drained completely. Bank says they can't tell kids about this crap going on. "Laws" they say. You can't tell me they couldn't have drove by one of the kids home and said "Hey you need to check your Mom's checking account." But no, they just sat there and watch another older person get took. My wife was having a mental breakdown at the time, which I did not know. After we got her into a Mental Hospital I asked the Dr's if I could have seen anything to stop this. NO, if the wife doesn't want you to know, you won't unless something "really" weird is going on. Now some family is pissed, other's understand. Still F'ed up. Watch your parents, wife's, kid's bank accounts closely and often. Come to find out there have been numerous older people scammed in this town losing houses and in one case a whole farm. The it never happens to me stuff........................it can happen to anybody.