How to protect older adults from AI scams

AI scams involve the use of fake audio, images, and videos to steal money or personal information, mimicking authentic people and companies, which makes it difficult to distinguish between reality and lies. These scams are sometimes conducted through voice-cloning phone calls, phishing emails, texts, and more.

Everyone should be skeptical of requests for money, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or personal information, especially if it's portrayed as an emergency or urgent. But when attackers use AI, it can be harder to detect the signs of a scam.

Older adults are often targeted by these scam artists because they may not recognize the warning signs. Keep reading to learn about common AI scams and how you can help your loved ones protect themselves.

What families need to know about AI scams today

• AI uses hyper-realistic audio and video (deepfakes) that make it almost impossible to distinguish from reality.

• Older adults are often targeted by scammers because they may not be aware of AI's capabilities. But family members can and should educate loved ones about the warning signs to avoid getting scammed online.

• Report scam activity immediately to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), IdentityTheft.gov, and your bank. These steps might help you prevent financial losses, and help others avoid these attacks in the process.

#1 family finance and safety app.

#1 family finance and safety app.

Teach your kids and teens to earn, save, and invest with Greenlight.

Use code GLBLOG for one month, on us.*

Try Greenlight today

Common types of AI scams targeting older adults

Keep an eye out for these types of communications, and you'll have a better shot of protecting your family members. 

Deepfake phone calls

AI can take recordings to create custom audio clips that mimic the voices of loved ones or authority figures. These audio clips can be used to make you believe a family member is in trouble and needs urgent help.

In some cases, images and audio can be combined to create deepfake videos, where a loved one might be portrayed as requesting funds for an emergency.

Watch out for: Behavioral red flags. If the person is urgent, asking for secrecy, or manipulating your emotions, you may be getting scammed.

AI-enhanced phishing scams

Traditional phishing messages seek to gather personal information, usually by prompting the recipient to click on a link in a text message or email and fill out a form. Using AI, scammers can scrape the internet to gather personal information and make their messages highly specific and realistic, increasing the likelihood that older adults will believe the messages. 

While it used to be easy to spot text scams with grammatical errors, scammers now use AI to improve their messages, making it harder to determine real from fake.

Watch out for: Unfamiliar email features. Be wary of unknown senders, double check suspicious links, and don't open unrequested attachments.

Social media impersonation

Scammers can use AI to create fake social media profiles, impersonating a trusted person to initiate contact with their intended victim. In extreme cases, social media photos can be fed into generative AI technology to create hyper-realistic “proof of life” images to convince the target that someone they care about is being held ransom. 

Watch out for: Inauthentic profiles. Check creation dates, and make sure that details like birthdays and bios are accurate. Look for genuine interaction on posts.

Emergency requests from loved ones

Using methods like AI voice scamming or deepfake video calls, fraudsters can convince people that a loved one is in trouble to get them to hand over money and personal information. The AI-generated audio, photos, or video creates an extreme sense of urgency, causing many people to panic and act on emotion. 

Watch out for: Emotional pleas for help. Be cautious of people unexpectedly and urgently creating fear or anxiety to seek out money or information.

5 warning signs of an AI scam

Unfortunately, AI has made it harder to detect the warning signs of a scam. However, there are some things you can look out for if you become targeted by an AI voice scam or similar digital threat. 

• Urgent requests: Be skeptical of sudden calls or messages demanding money or sensitive data; scammers use a false sense of urgency to bypass your critical thinking.

• Secretive demands: Reject any request to keep a situation private or hidden from family and authorities, as isolation is a key tactic used to maintain control.

• Awkward conversational nuances: Listen closely for "off" phrasing, unusual attitudes, or gaps in personal knowledge that don't align with your real relationship with the caller.

• Digital irregularities: Watch and listen for digital "glitches," such as unnatural background noises or distorted video, which often signal AI-generated deepfakes.

• Payment requests: Financial scammers often request funds through hard-to-trace methods like wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or payments through money apps. 

Go with your gut. If you feel pressured to do something you're not comfortable with, consider whether you're truly in communication with someone you know.  

Ways to help older adults build digital awareness

If you have older adults in your life, it helps to educate them about the risks of AI scams and fraud. Try some of these tips and tricks to help older adults build digital awareness:

• Teach them about AI scams, how they work, and why they're harder to detect. 

• Tell older adults not to act on emotion alone. Help them overcome the fear and anxiety that is often triggered by emergency scams.

• Set a callback policy. Make sure older adults have phone numbers for family members and friends. If they receive a suspicious phone call from someone they know, they can call them directly to ensure it's really them.

• Use a family code word. If you're really in trouble, you can use the code word to discreetly confirm your identity. Alternatively, older adults could ask a question that only the other person would know the answer to.

• Help older adults conduct reverse image searches or voice searches to determine whether the images or audio someone sends to you is real, taken from online, or created using AI.

Keep the lines of communication open, and try to remain judgment-free if your loved ones accidentally fall prey to an AI scam. Stay up to date on the latest scam trends and technology-enhanced fraud to inform older adults of new warning signs and how to respond. 

Protect your loved ones' finances

The risk of fraud and money mishaps increases as we age, even for independent older adults. Keep your senior loved ones‡ safe with Greenlight Family Shield. Receive alerts on suspicious financial activities, identity theft protection, and real-time location sharing with emergency alerts.††

Get peace of mind for the whole family with Greenlight Family Shield.

 ‡Loved ones refers to covered family members as defined in the policy i.e. supported adults for which you control or assist with their finances.

††Requires mobile data or a WiFi connection, and access to sensory and motion data from cell phone to utilize safety features including family location sharing and driving alerts and reports. Messaging and data rates and other terms may apply.