Nine scam patterns cause most of the financial damage to retirees and high-net-worth households: investment and crypto fraud, the "banks are compromised, buy gold" call, bank and government impersonation, a fake in-progress wire alert, account takeover through a hacked email, the family emergency call, a cloned advisor identity, tech support pop-ups, and romance fraud. Nearly all of them share one weakness: they depend on urgency and secrecy. Hanging up and calling back on a number you already trust defeats almost every one of them.
Where things stand
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded $20.9 billion in reported losses in 2025, up 26 percent in a single year. People aged 60 and over accounted for $7.7 billion of that, spread across roughly 201,000 complaints. The average loss among those victims was about $38,500, and more than 12,000 of them lost over $100,000.
Two things have changed recently. Criminals now use artificial intelligence to clone voices from a few seconds of audio, so a familiar voice on the phone no longer proves anything. And they increasingly ask for money in forms that cannot be reversed, including wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, gold bars, and cash handed to a courier at your door.
The scams worth knowing
These are ordered by the damage they tend to do to the person on the other end of the call, not by how the criminal opens it, since the same script gets reused with a new costume every few months.
Crypto and long con investment fraud
Investment fraud is the biggest single category of loss, $8.7 billion in 2025, with cryptocurrency schemes making up $7.2 billion of it. The setup usually begins as a wrong number text, a friendly message on WhatsApp or LinkedIn, or a dating app match. There is no pitch at first. Over weeks the person becomes a friend or a romantic interest, mentions their own trading success, and eventually helps you open an account on a platform that looks entirely professional. Small withdrawals work fine at first, which is what convinces people to send more. When you try to take out a meaningful amount, there is a tax, a fee, or a compliance hold, and then the platform disappears.
A related version impersonates real firms and real advisors, including cloned websites and fake profiles using an advisor's actual name and photo.
- An investment introduced by someone you have never met in person
- Returns described as guaranteed, or steady gains with no losing months
- Pressure to act before an opportunity closes
- Fees or taxes demanded before you can withdraw your own money
- Any request to send funds directly to a person, an app, or a crypto wallet
What stops it: run it past us before any money moves. There is no opportunity so good that it cannot survive a phone call and a day of waiting.
"Banks and brokerages have been compromised, move to gold"
This one aims at the financial system itself rather than at one account, which is what makes it different from an ordinary bank impersonation call. The caller, often posing as a government investigator, a bank auditor, or a security consultant, says a breach has hit banks and brokerage firms broadly, that accounts including yours are at risk, and that the only protection is converting savings to physical gold immediately. Because the pitch is built on distrust of every institution at once, it specifically discourages you from calling us or your bank to check, since the story is that they are compromised too. Instead of a courier collecting bars in person, this version has victims wire funds directly to a "dealer" for gold that is supposedly being purchased and shipped. No gold exists. The wire goes to the scammer and the money is gone.
The FBI and NYPD have tracked well over $200 million in combined gold bar scam losses over the past two years, concentrated among people over 60, and the CFTC has brought several enforcement actions against precious metals dealers running this exact scheme.
- A claim that banks, brokerages, or the financial system broadly have been compromised
- Being told not to call your bank, your brokerage, or us to verify, because they are supposedly compromised as well
- Pressure to withdraw or wire funds today to buy gold, coins, or bullion from a dealer you have never used
- Any instruction to wire money for gold rather than working through an established, verifiable dealer
What stops it: a real systemic banking failure would not be broken to you by a single unsolicited phone call, and the fix would never be a personal wire transfer. Call us. If the entire financial system were actually compromised, gold from an unknown dealer paid by wire would be the last thing worth trusting.
Bank, brokerage, and government impersonation
This is now the largest imposter category. Someone calls or texts claiming to be from your bank's fraud department, your brokerage, Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, or a police department. The caller ID shows the real institution's number, because spoofing that is trivial. The story is that your account has been compromised, your Social Security number has been linked to a crime, or a warrant has been issued. The fix always involves moving your money to a new "safe" account, or verifying yourself by reading back a code they just texted you.
Bank impersonation alone accounted for roughly $1 billion in reported losses in 2025, and government impersonation reports rose about 40 percent. A common variant right now is a text about an unpaid toll, spoofing FasTrak, E-ZPass, SunPass, and similar programs, threatening late fees or a suspended registration.
- Anyone asking you to move money to a "safe" or "protected" account. No real institution does this.
- A request for the one-time code that was just texted to you
- Threats of arrest, license suspension, or frozen benefits
- A text with a link about a toll, a package, or a traffic ticket
- Being told to stay on the line while you go to the bank
What stops it: hang up and dial the number on the back of your card, on your statement, or in your contacts. Never use a number, link, or callback provided in the message itself.
"Someone is trying to wire money out of your account"
A sharper version of the bank impersonation call, aimed squarely at brokerage clients. The caller ID shows Schwab's real number. The caller says they are from the fraud department and a wire transfer is being attempted on your account at this moment, possibly using your own real account number and balance to sound credible. They are calling to stop it, but only you can authorize the fix, which turns out to mean moving your funds into a new account they describe as secure, or reading back the one-time code that was just texted to you. The entire call is built to make you feel like you are the one preventing a theft, when you are the one committing it.
- A claim that a wire or transfer is in progress right now and only you can stop it
- Being asked to move your own money anywhere, including to a "secure" or "protected" account. Schwab does not do this, ever.
- A request to read back a code that was just texted to you
- The caller already knows your account number or balance, which feels like proof but is not
What stops it: hang up. Do not call back a number the caller gives you, even if it sounds like a direct line to fraud services, since a well-run version of this scam answers that number too. Call the number printed on a Schwab statement, saved in your phone from a prior legitimate call, or call us and we will call Schwab with you.
Account takeover and wire fraud
Rather than convince you to send money, the criminal takes over an email account and sends the instruction themselves. This is how business email compromise works, and it cost victims $3.05 billion in 2025. In our world it shows up as a forged email to a custodian or an advisor requesting a wire, or as altered wiring instructions during a real estate closing, sent from an address one character different from the real one. The request is usually urgent, comes when the client is traveling, and asks the advisor not to call.
- Wiring instructions that change at the last minute
- An email asking that a request be handled without a phone call
- A sender address that is subtly misspelled
- Any first time wire to a new account, especially overseas
What stops it: we call you at a number already on file to verbally confirm every wire and every change to your instructions, without exception. If you ever want a wire sent and we do not call you, something is wrong.
The family emergency call
You get a call, usually late at night or early in the morning. A grandchild, a nephew, or an adult child has been in an accident, arrested, or detained abroad. They are crying, embarrassed, and begging you not to tell their parents. A second voice takes over, presenting himself as a lawyer, a bail bondsman, or a police officer, and asks for money right now. Increasingly the voice is a real clone of your relative, built from a few seconds of audio taken off social media or a voicemail greeting.
- Extreme urgency combined with a request for secrecy
- A stranger takes over the call to explain the payment
- Payment by wire, gift card, cryptocurrency, or a courier coming to collect cash
- The caller resists your suggestion to call the person back
What stops it: hang up and call the relative directly on the number you already have. Agree on a family code word now, while nothing is wrong, and tell every adult in the family what it is.
A cloned advisor, a cloned voice
A convincing voice clone now takes as little as three seconds of audio, and caller ID can be faked to show any number, including ours. Separately, criminals build entire fake advisor identities: they pull a real advisor's name, photo, and credentials from public regulatory databases, put them on a cloned website built from a stolen template, and run the profile on Instagram or TikTok. One tracked campaign covered several hundred advisors this way. Neither version requires anything to go wrong on our end. It only requires that your name and a public photo exist, which they do for every advisor.
What limits the damage is where the money has to go. We do not hold your assets, so a call from "us" can never move money by itself. Any instruction still has to become an action you take at Schwab, and Schwab calls you back on a number already on file before a new wire destination goes through. That is one of the reasons the callback step exists.
- Any call, text, or email, from a familiar number or a familiar voice, asking you to move money or log in and send something
- An advisor profile you found through social media rather than through us directly
- Pressure to communicate over WhatsApp or a messaging app instead of a phone call
- A website or contact address that is close to ours but not quite right
What stops it: we will never call, text, or email asking you to move money, full stop, regardless of what the caller ID shows or whose voice it is. If you get a request like that, call our office directly on the number you already have and ask us. We have also set up a shared verbal passphrase with clients as an extra check on the phone; ask us for yours if we have not already set one.
Tech support and pop-up warnings
A full-screen warning appears claiming your computer is infected, often with an alarm sound and a phone number for Microsoft or Apple support. The person who answers asks for remote access to your machine. Once inside, they open your online accounts, show you a fake screen suggesting a refund was overpaid, and then walk you through wiring the difference back. Tech support fraud cost victims $2.1 billion in 2025, and the losses skew heavily toward people over 60.
- A pop-up with a phone number. Real security warnings never include one.
- A request to install remote access software such as AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or LogMeIn
- Being asked to log into your bank while they watch
- A refund that lands in the wrong amount and needs to be corrected
What stops it: close the browser or shut down the computer. Call the person who normally helps with your technology. No legitimate company monitors your personal computer for viruses.
Romance and companionship fraud
Reported romance losses reached about $1.48 billion in 2025 with an average loss around $2,020, though the figures for older victims run far higher because these relationships last longer. The pattern is consistent: quick emotional intensity, a reason they can never meet in person or appear on video, and eventually a crisis requiring money. Widowed and recently divorced people are targeted deliberately, often through sympathy groups and church or hobby communities online.
- They profess strong feelings unusually fast
- Video calls never work out, or the camera is always broken
- They ask you to keep the relationship private from family
- A medical emergency, a customs fee, or a business deal requires your help
- They offer to help you invest
What stops it: do not send money to anyone you have not met face to face, no matter how long you have been talking. Run a reverse image search on their photos, or ask a family member to.
The smaller ones that lead somewhere bigger
These often cost little on their own, but they are how criminals learn which households answer the phone and which are willing to follow instructions.
- Prize and sweepstakes calls. You have won, but taxes or a delivery fee must be paid first. Legitimate prizes never require payment.
- Charity appeals after a disaster. High pressure, cash or gift card payment, a name close to a well known charity.
- Home repair and driveway crews. Unsolicited visit, a roof or tree problem only they can see, a cash deposit demanded on the spot.
- Medicare and health plan calls. A free brace, genetic test kit, or new card offered in exchange for your Medicare number.
- Job and task offers by text. Easy remote work rating products or liking videos, which turns into depositing your own money to unlock commissions.
- Subscription renewal invoices. An email or PDF saying your antivirus or a large retailer just charged you several hundred dollars, with a number to call to dispute it. The number is the scam.
How the money is taken
Recognizing the payment method is often faster than recognizing the story. No legitimate business, bank, agency, or court collects money in any of these ways.
| Method | How it is pitched | Why it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Gift cards | Payment for taxes, fines, fees, or a bond | Untraceable, drained within minutes |
| Wire transfer | Moving funds to a safe account | Nearly impossible to recall once sent |
| Cryptocurrency ATM | Protecting your money from a compromised account | Irreversible, often located in convenience stores |
| Gold or silver bars | Converting assets to protect them from seizure | Handed to a courier in person, gone immediately |
| Cash courier | A federal agent or bank officer will collect it | No record, no institution involved |
| Payment apps | A quick reimbursement between friends | Treated like cash, with almost no fraud protection |
Four habits that stop nearly all of it
This single habit defeats every impersonation scam, because the criminal cannot control a number you look up yourself. Caller ID, logos, and email addresses can all be faked. A number on your statement or in your contacts cannot.
Real institutions do not create emergencies that must be resolved in the next hour. Urgency exists to stop you from checking. If you feel rushed, that is the signal to slow down, not to hurry.
Scams depend on isolation, which is why the caller asks you to keep it quiet. Saying it out loud to a spouse, an adult child, or to us breaks the spell more reliably than any checklist.
Turn on two-factor authentication for your email and financial accounts, freeze your credit at all three bureaus, and never read a verification code to anyone who calls you. Your email is the master key to everything else, so it deserves the strongest password you have.
What we do on our side
Our standing procedures
- We will never call, text, or email asking you to move money, log into your account and send something, or read us a verification code. If you get a request like that, it is not from us, no matter what the caller ID or the voice sounds like.
- We verbally confirm every wire and every change of instructions by calling a number already on file. We will never accept those instructions by email alone.
- We ask every client to name a trusted contact, someone we may call if we cannot reach you or if something about a request seems wrong. Naming a trusted contact gives them no authority over your accounts.
- If we believe a request may be the result of fraud or pressure, we can ask the custodian to delay a disbursement while it is reviewed. California law allows this, and we would rather have an awkward conversation than an irreversible transfer.
- Your custodian's fraud protections sit behind ours, including transaction alerts, verbal callbacks, and restrictions on first time wire destinations.
Please call us before sending money anywhere unusual, even if it has nothing to do with your investment accounts. There is no charge for a second opinion, and we would much rather answer that call than the one that comes afterward.
If you think it already happened
Speed matters more than certainty. Act first and sort out the details later.
- Call your bank or custodian immediately and ask them to attempt a recall. Wires sent within the last 24 to 72 hours are sometimes recoverable.
- Call us so we can watch your accounts and coordinate with the custodian.
- Change the password on your email first, then on your financial accounts, from a device you know is clean.
- Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and at ic3.gov. Reports are how these operations get traced.
- Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
- For suspected exploitation of an older adult, the Justice Department's National Elder Fraud Hotline is 833-372-8311.
Nobody should feel embarrassed about this. These operations are staffed, scripted, and run at industrial scale against millions of people, and the ones who fall for them are not careless. Telling someone quickly is what limits the damage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most financially damaging scam targeting retirees right now?
Long-con investment and cryptocurrency fraud causes the largest losses per victim, since the scam is built to escalate over weeks or months rather than take one payment. The FBI recorded $8.7 billion in investment fraud losses in 2025, more than any other category, with $7.2 billion of that tied to fake crypto trading platforms.
Can a scammer really clone my financial advisor's voice?
Yes. A usable voice clone can be built from as little as three seconds of audio, and caller ID can be spoofed to show any number. What limits the damage is that a legitimate advisor does not hold custody of client assets, so a phone call alone cannot move money. A verbal callback to a number already on file before any wire, required by the custodian, is what actually stops this scam.
Is the gold bar scam real?
Yes. Callers posing as government investigators or bank officials tell victims that banks or the financial system have been compromised and that the only protection is converting savings to gold, either through a courier who collects it in person or by wiring funds to a dealer for gold that is never delivered. The FBI and NYPD have tracked more than $200 million in combined losses from this scheme over two years, concentrated among people over 60.
Would my brokerage firm ever call and ask me to move money to a safe account?
No. Legitimate banks and brokerages never ask a client to move their own funds to a new account to protect them from fraud, and never ask a client to read back a one-time verification code over the phone. Any call making either request is fraudulent regardless of what the caller ID shows.
How do I verify a call is really from my bank or advisor?
Hang up and dial a number you already have, from a statement, the back of a card, or your saved contacts, rather than any number the caller provides or that appears on caller ID. Caller ID and callback numbers offered mid-call can both be controlled by the scammer.
What should I do if I think I already sent money to a scammer?
Contact your bank or custodian immediately and ask them to attempt a wire recall, since transfers within the last 24 to 72 hours are sometimes recoverable. Report the incident at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, change your email password first and then your financial account passwords, and freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Speed matters more than certainty.
Have a call or email that felt off?
There is no charge for a second opinion, and we would much rather field that call than the one that comes after. Reach out before any money moves.
Talk to us