Photo courtesy gamma.app

MIAMI – The FBI is warning senior citizens about a text scan targeting them.

The FBI’s South Florida division says the people behind the fraudulent texts are out to swindle senior citizens out of their money if they respond by giving them personal information.

Some of the texts are scams for romance, tech support, sweepstakes, home repair and grandparent concern.

The grandparent concern scam is someone posing as a grandchild asking for money for emergencies.

The perpetrators target seniors because they tend to be more vulnerable, polite, in need of companionship and tech support.

“With the elderly population growing and seniors racking up more than $3 billion in losses annually, elder fraud has remained a growing problem.
“We’re seeing a spike recently in impersonation fraud,” FBI Miami Supervisory Special Agent Zacharia Baldwin said.

“So obviously that comes with what’s happening with trends socially, economically, politically, things like that. So around tax season, we’re going to see your IRS impersonation scheme.”

The FBI has published a list of common elder fraud schemes and how to recognize them.

Visit https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/elder-fraud