SCAM ALERT: Be on the Lookout for These Scams in March 2025

Scammers are criminals. The best way to stop a scam is to spot the red flags!

National Consumer Protection Week
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It’s National Consumer Protection Week—and while AARP is focused on protecting consumers year-round—this is a good time to highlight some key consumer protection tips.

Make certain to use strong and unique passwords on all online accounts – look into password managers as an easier way to tackle this challenge. Where offered, use multi-factor authentication, where you receive a code by text, phone, or installed app, to add a layer of protection beyond your username and password. Rather than clicking links from texts and emails from your bank or from businesses you have accounts with, go to your app if you have one, or to a web browser and type the address in yourself—that way you know you are going to the legitimate site. Also, freeze your credit with the three main credit reporting agencies – TransUnion, Experian and Equifax – to block attempts to use any of your sensitive personal information that may have been exposed to open accounts in your name.

Check out our Fraud Resource Center at aarp.org/frc for more insights and tips to stay safe from scams and fraud.

Avoiding the Cruise to Nowhere
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Winter is still here and many of us would do just about anything to find some warm weather. Enter the cruise scam. Many of these trips to nowhere literally pop up online as a “free” incentive or a can’t-miss deal. What they really are is an attempt to steal your information or your money.

Here are three tips for avoiding a cruise scam when shopping for your spring getaway.

Beware of starting with a search engine: Scammers buy ads and use fake websites to appear at the top of results. Consider starting your search on trusted cruise line websites instead.

1. Check the source: If you receive unsolicited cruise offers, investigate the company to verify its legitimacy, ask questions and study the fine print before booking.
2. Pay with a credit card: If you’ve done your homework and are ready to make the investment, credit cards offer the strongest and most immediate fraud protection.

Crooks Want Gold Bars Now
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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 employees may 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.

How to Help Repeat Fraud Victims
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All too often, victims of fraud are repeatedly deceived by the same criminals regarding the same scheme. Or, once victimized, some are that much more vulnerable to new scams. 

If your loved one is experiencing this, gently ask thoughtful questions that may prompt them to reflect on the situation, helping them recognize inconsistencies and come to their own conclusion that it may be a scam. It’s also important to try to understand underlying issues like unmet emotional or financial needs and develop a plan to address them. 

Importantly, have regular discussion about scams with family and friends. When you read or hear about some new scheme, talk about it. Put your concerns about protecting your loved ones in the context that fraud is everywhere but together we can help protect one another. 

Lastly, and most importantly, avoid blaming the victim. Criminals are skilled manipulators who exploit our emotions. Victims need support, understanding and reassurance from their loved ones.
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Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.

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