Saving seniors from scammers

The Town of Oyster Bay is partnering with the Nassau County District Attorney’s office to help combat the wave of scams targeting the community’s senior population.

Senior scams, have been increasing in scale and sophistication in the last decade. The group will hold two seminars, open to residents of the town and their families, which will explain some threats seniors face online, how to look out for them and how to report them.

According to statistics provided by the Federal Trade Commission, over $230 million has been stolen from New Yorkers by scammers in 2024 alone. Nicole Turso, communications director for the district attorney’s office, explained in a statement that many scams specifically target seniors because they have exploitable vulnerabilities, from loneliness to an unfamiliarity with technology.

“Unfortunately, criminals target our seniors via telephone and email scams, where they pretend to be government agents, bank security specialists, or even a family member in need of assistance,” Turso wrote. “Senior citizens, many of whom live alone and are without additional support, trusting the person on the other end of the line, and give them access to the elderly person’s retirement accounts or substantial nest eggs.”

The types of scams that seniors face range from simple mailbox fishing (where thieves will break inside a mailbox to steal checks, debit/credit cards or personal information) to more technologically complex scams involving corrupt hyperlinks which allow criminals to illegally download a senior’s personal or financial information.

The two seminars, which take place on Sept. 20 at 2:30 p.m. at the Syosset-Woodbury Community Center in Woodbury and Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. at Marjorie Post Park Community Center in Massapequa, offer elder residents a chance to learn more about these and other types of threats that many have already had some exposure to. Joseph Saladino, the town’s supervisor, emphasized in a statement the importance of informing residents about the issues they face.

“Protecting our seniors is a top priority,” Saladino stated. “By working with District Attorney (Anne) Donnelly, we are taking proactive steps to ensure that our elderly community members are informed and empowered against deceitful tactics.”

The new seminars dovetail with efforts by senior-focused groups and organizations across Long Island to address these issues. Tracy Arnold Warzer, the senior citizen program development specialist for the Village of Sea Cliff, recently organized a similar seminar in Sea Cliff where she, members of the district attorney’s office, and Manda Kristal, a financial exploitation and abuse program coordinator from the Family & Children’s
Association, taught over 40 seniors how to recognize scams related to artificial intelligence, social security administration, and more.

Warzer explained that she viewed education on this topic to be one of the most important aspects of her job for the village. She added that she’s spoken with seniors in the past who have lost thousands of dollars, and in some cases their entire life savings, to these sorts of scams.

“So senior scam prevention is the most important thing, in my mind, to help educate the public, seniors in particular, who are so vulnerable, about what the current scams are, and to remind them how to handle situations,” Warzer said. “People are fearful of becoming a victim, and people feel a great sense of shame if they do fall to one of these scammers.”

Judy Palumbo, director of the Life Enrichment Center in Oyster Bay, also stressed the importance of keeping seniors educated on the types of scams that target them. She said that the center holds multiple similar seminars throughout the year, but the biggest struggle is trying to keep up with new, more sophisticated scams that continue to pop up.

A growing number of scam phone calls can use artificial intelligence to mimic voices, even the voices of friends and family members. Palumbo added that many seniors can be particularly susceptible to believing calls that claim a family member has been injured or is in some kind of distress, taking advantage of their natural urge to support or protect their loved ones.

“The scammers on the other end of the phone, they’ve got it down to a science,” Palumbo said. “Now with the advent or evolution of AI, the voices are spot on. They’re able to find a voice, maybe through video or through social media, and they can really replicate that grandchild’s voice.”