Online scammers are targeting NJ seniors. Here's how to fight them.

Madeline Bennett looked at her credit card statement not long ago and found two charges from a fashion store in the Midwest that she didn't make, prompting her to call her bank, close her account and get a new card.

Bennett doesn't know how the scammers got the information they needed to make the purchases. But the scams are endless. There are phone calls from numbers she doesn't recognize, emails with the name of her bank misspelled, Facebook messages from a friend asking for data that is too personal.

"There's so many, I can't even begin to tell you," Bennett, 74, said.

Bennett was among two dozen seniors who live at Bayshore Village at an event Tuesday sponsored by the complex's owner, Community Investment Strategies Inc., and OceanFirst Bank to hear tips on how to protect themselves against identity theft and scams.

They are part of a demographic that is under siege by bad actors who are trying to gain access to their Social Security numbers, debit cards, computer passwords and, ultimately, bank accounts.

Fraud is so pervasive that few have been spared. Local institutions including CentraState Healthcare System and Freehold Township Schools were targeted in cyberattacks. And all three speakers Tuesday detailed their own personal stories about getting scammed.

Seniors, however, are more susceptible to the crime than other age groups, in part because they are less computer savvy, they have more assets, and they are more likely to depend on others to handle their finances, the bankers said.

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More than 101,000 people aged 60 and older reported being victim of fraud in 2023, causing more than $3.4 billion in losses — up 11% from the previous year, according to the FBI.

"As technology has made our life easier and helps us to do more things without leaving the house, it also opens the door to all these potential scams that we could get involved in," said Helen Steblecki, community development officer for Toms River-based OceanFirst.

Seniors face threats of identity theft in which thieves get a hold of financial information and make purchases, pay for services or withdraw money.

There is no shortage of scams, from the "grandparent scam" in which fraudsters pose as the seniors' grandchildren and ask for money to get out of a jam, to make-believe IRS agents demanding unpaid taxes. ("The IRS is never going to call you," said Gina Soares, OceanFirst's Middletown branch manager).

How do you know you've been scammed? Consumers find ATM withdrawals or credit care charges they didn't make; they get bills from medical offices they didn't visit; or calls and emails from debt collectors, Soares said.

Among the tips to protect yourself:

• Shred documents that have personal information, including labels on prescription drugs.
• Create strong PINs and passwords and never share them.
• Don't carry your Social Security or insurance cards with you.
• Never respond to requests for personal information.
• Be suspicious of calls from unknown numbers.

"These types of people, they use a sense of urgency," Soares said. "So if you're ever on the phone with someone and they're making you feel uncomfortable, and they're making you feel like you need to make a decision immediately … in the sense that something is happening right now, that is a big sign that you are being scammed. (They know) you might not be making the best decision because they're asking you to make it quickly."

Consumers might face new threats as scam artists use artificial intelligence to replicate voices and images, the speakers said.

It will leave seniors to follow the lead of Barbara Gallagher, 79, who lives at Bayshore Village.

She was expecting a call from her doctor about six months ago when she picked up the phone and heard a voice on the other end who sounded like her grandson. He said he had been in an accident and was in jail. He needed $3,000 to get out.

But something didn't sit right with Gallagher. Her grandson called her "nana." The voice on the phone called her "grandma."

"I said, 'First of all, I would never do anything without contacting my daughter, and second of all, I don't have any money to give you,'" Gallagher said. "And I hung up."

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Online scammers are targeting NJ seniors. Here's how to fight them.