Understanding the ways criminals seek to steal money can help you stay a step ahead of scams.  

While scams take many forms, scammers may seek payment through a few hard-to-trace methods with few or no protections, including gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, peer-to-peer apps and, more recently, gold bars. 

Criminals impersonating law enforcement or bank employeesmay convince targets to protect their bank accounts from an active hack by withdrawing their savings and purchasing gold bars as a way to keep their money safe. Then they send a courier to pick up the gold bars for ‘safekeeping.’ This scheme is happening across the country and victims are having their entire life savings stolen in this way. If your bank calls about an urgent matter, hang up and call them back at a number you know to be legitimate. 

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam. 

Need a scam prevention speaker for your group? Click the link to fill out our online form or send an email to me@aarp.org. 

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.