Attorney General Dave Sunday joined AARP in marking Identity Theft Awareness Week with a presentation to older Pennsylvanians who are often targeted in scams. Attorney General Sunday provided information about most common scam types, how many scams were reported, and how much money was lost.
Attorney General Sunday, AARP, and Director Shallcross advised the audience on how they can defend themselves from identity thieves.
Federal law enforcement is warning of a “catastrophic” rise in elder fraud, with a new FBI report revealing that Americans aged 60 and older lost a record $4.9 billion to scams in the past year alone.
While the “Grandparent Scam” is a decades-old tactic, 2026 has introduced a terrifying new evolution: AI Voice Cloning. Criminals now use just seconds of audio from a person’s social media to replicate their voice perfectly, making a fake “emergency call” to a grandparent sound indistinguishable from the real person.
Experts from AARP and the FBI identify three primary reasons why older adults remain the primary focus for international crime syndicates:
Lifetime Savings: Seniors are often more financially stable, holding retirement accounts, home equity, and good credit—assets that make them high-value targets for “Pig Butchering” (long-term investment) and romance scams.
The “Trust Gap”: Many seniors were raised in an era where politeness to strangers was the norm. Scammers exploit this courtesy, using “urgent” or “authoritative” tones to pressure victims into making hasty decisions.
Technological Isolation: While most seniors use smartphones, they may be less aware of the latest “invisible” threats, such as shimming (stealing chip data from card readers) or AI-generated deepfake videos that appear to show government officials or celebrities giving investment advice.
Safety experts say the best defense isn’t a piece of software, but a change in behavior.
Establish a Family “Code Word”: Create a secret phrase only your family knows. If a “grandchild” calls in trouble but can’t give the word, hang up immediately.
The “Take a Beat” Rule: Scammers rely on panic. If a caller says you are about to be arrested or your bank account is drained, hang up. Wait five minutes, then call the official number on the back of your bank card or the local police station to verify.
Never Pay with “Untraceable” Methods: No legitimate government agency or business will ever ask you to pay using Gift Cards, Cryptocurrency, or Bitcoin ATMs. These are 100% scams.
Go Private: Set your social media profiles to “Private” so scammers cannot scrape your photos or voice recordings to use in AI-powered attacks.
