Let’s talk about our older parents. It is a fact that we all age, and well, our parents are getting older and are targeted more and more by those hackers and bad actors!
The fact is that in 2025 over 200,000 complaints were filed with the FBI for over $7 billion in losses in the older American age group (60 and above.) That is a lot!
There are numerous data breaches that your parents’ information has been in, including their date of birth, addresses, and at the minimum the last four of their Social Security numbers.
The reason this is so bad? It is the same info that a bank’s call center or other places such as Medicare need to authenticate that your parents or even you say that you are who you are. The work of locking down the accounts has now become an afternoon’s worth of work that falls on the children of these older parents.
There is another layer that is making it even harder on the older generation: AI voice cloning. Now, with only a few seconds of audio, be it an audio stream from a social media account or a voicemail’s “Hello, you have reached…” is enough to clone that grandchild’s voice. They now can get their grandparent to send them gift cards to get them out of a tough situation.
This is not to scare you into never talking again, but I do want to bring these things to your attention. Before you freak completely out, take the first step and educate your parent, and make sure you help them to understand what is out there and what steps need to be taken. The point is that you are not going to take control away from them, but to help them.
Here Is What You Can Do to Help
- Freeze their credit.
- Pull an IRS Identity Protection PIN.
- Enroll in USPS Informed Delivery.
- Opt out of Credit Offers.
You may want to do that for yourself while you are at it. I have.
As for AI Voice Cloning
There are two things that can help:
Set up a “TROUBLE” code word. That way the scammer would have to guess it and there is no way AI can do that.
Teach your parents to watch out for these red flags:
- Requests for their full Social Security number
- Demands for gift cards as payment for overdue balances
- Threats of law enforcement involvement or arrest
I know this one was a long one. I hope these tips have helped.
Dad, time to have a talk…
As always, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any thoughts on this.
Stay Safe Out There!