Fraud Red Flags

Your money

• A new “friend” who asks for funds to be wired to an unknown third party or to a country other than where the friend is located 
• An urgent or outrageous reason for needing cash – for example, “I need money to get my oil tanker through customs”
• Requests for cash-only donations or unfamiliar charities that spring up after a natural disaster 
• A check made out for more than you were expecting, especially if the payer then asks you to wire back a portion of the proceeds
• A request to pay money in order to get money or a required upfront payment of fees or maintenance costs 
• Items that sell online for far below their suggested retail price 
• High pay for performing simple tasks from home

Your correspondence

• A letter indicating you are a “winner” when you didn’t enter a contest 
• Notification of an inheritance from an unknown relative
• Telephone calls from the IRS or other government agencies requesting a payment 
• An email containing spelling errors, bad grammar or a link that appears unrelated to the sender 
• Calls from purported computer technicians alleging they’ve detected a virus or other problems on your home computer

Your identity

• Statements that don’t arrive as expected 
• Unexpected credit cards or account statements, or collection calls or letters about purchases you didn’t make 
• Denials of credit for no apparent reason or significant, unexplained changes in your credit score 
• Requests for personal information in a situation that usually wouldn’t require this disclosure

For older adults

• Concern or confusion about missing funds from an account 
• Unexplained changes in beneficiary designations 
• A caregiver who isolates the older person from family, friends, community and other stable relationships 
• Acquaintances or family members who seem overly interested in the older adult’s finances