📣 Know this sweetspot for scammers? It's lost $3.4 Billion and counting

Hi Reader,

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For many online scammers, those in retirement are a target ripe for the picking.

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The FBI reports retirees aged 60 years and older in the U.S. lost over $3.4 billion to scammers last year—an 11% increase from the year before.

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Here’s a closer look at common retirement scams and how to know one when you see one…before it’s too late.

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What retiree (or anyone else) wouldn’t love the idea of a low-risk, high return investment?

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The scammer knows the right things to say to win a victim’s confidence, banking account information, and their money.

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The investments either don’t exist or are not at all what they appear to be.

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Phishing For PII

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Scammers phish for personally identifiable information (PII).

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How? They rely on using legitimate entities, like a bank or credit union, government agency, or other trusted source, to get your attention.

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🔴 This is a red flag.

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The emails and text messages often demand an urgent response, claiming something worse could happen if action isn’t taken quickly.

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🔴 And that's a red flag...

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… because they know: if they can get you to make hasty moves, you'll overlook details that give them away.

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Once victims lower their guard and trust the message (to move to the next step — clicking, submitting a form, or even calling a number), they'll often give over their Social Security number, banking and credit card info., or other valuable PII.

Pension Payout Promises

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A quick cash advance instead of waiting for future pension payments is a tempting proposition for some retirees.

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That’s what the scammer promises, but they also deliver insane fees and interest rates for the payout, quickly draining a victim’s retirement funds.

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Preventing Retirement Scams

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Heartless crooks that they are, retirement scammers are all about gaining a victim’s trust.

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They know this demographic often lacks tech-savvy necessary to navigate many of today’s tasks, are unfamiliar with the latest scam tactics, and are likely to trust others.

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Below are tips to help prevent a retirement scam from taking root—for you and your loved ones.

• Approach any money-making opportunity with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially when it sounds too good to be true.
• Always verify an investment opportunity is legitimate before committing. You should always have time to do some research. If not, consider it a scam.
• Ask a trusted financial advisor or family member for their thoughts. Sometimes, they notice something that you may have missed, especially if you were made to feel rushed.
• Keep up to date on the latest scam and fraud tricks using trusted sources for information.

Stay safe,​
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​Your Dicar Networks Team