Scammers will use almost any opportunity to take advantage of people in their most vulnerable state. But guess which segment of the population is at serious risk? You got it…senior citizens. Watch out for these grandparent travel scams.

It’s estimated that senior citizens lose as much as $2.9 billion a year to financial exploitation, and that’s just the reported figure.

In one common scam, the perpetrator calls a senior citizen pretending to be a family member in distress. He/she may say they’re traveling and need money wired.

There may even be a follow-up call, with the scammer pretending to be from an overseas U.S. embassy or consulate.

Scammers are also getting increasingly more high tech, manipulating the caller ID to make it seem like the call is coming from a credible place.

The bottom line: listen to your gut.

Ask specific questions to make sure the caller is who they say they are.

Contact someone else in the family to find out more information. But never, ever wire money based on a call or email request. Once it’s sent, you can’t get that back.

For more information, visit the Money, Currency & Credit archives. 

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