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6 | LIFE IN SOLERA | AUGUST 2025 | e Finance Committee is responsible for ensuring our funds are FDIC insured. We must deposit our funds in banks which are members of FDIC, and our total in each bank cannot exceed $250,000. Since March of this year, here in Solera, there have been at least three scams resulting in losses for our residents from $1,000 to $20,000. e knowledge of these scams prompted me to research scams against elders in 2025. e following information is a result of the search: Biggest Scams to watch for in 2025 by AARP (www.aarp.org/ money/scams-fraud/biggest-scams-2025) According to AARP in an article stated older people are frequent targets of these crimes: Losses from scams reported in America over age 60 were up 11 percent last year over the year before, according to FBI's Elder Fraud Report, with fraud criminals stealing more than $3.4 billion from older Americans in 2025. Note: e following is only part of the information. See online story listed above for the complete information. 1. Employment scams Every source contacted for this article — from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to the Identity e Resource Center (ITRC) — reported a rise in employment scams, from phony ads on job sites to fake recruitment pitches in your inbox. In some cases, the goal is simply to gain your personal information. You're told you got the job, so you ll out paperwork that includes your Social Security number and your bank account info for direct deposit, notes Melanie McGovern, director of public relations and social media for the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. 2. Cryptocurrency scams Cryptocurrency is hot, with the price of one Bitcoin reaching $100,000 for the rst time in December 2024. at may be good for savvy investors, but the hype could lure novices into cryptocurrency scams — with huge potential losses. In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3. gov) received nearly 9,000 cryptocurrency complaints from people age 50-59. eir total losses: more than $900 million. People age 60 and older registered nearly 17,000 complaints and reported losses of $1.6 billion. (e numbers are probably far higher, because scams are notoriously underreported.) 3. Celebrity impostor scams e AARP Fraud Watch Network receives dozens of reports of celebrity impostor scams every month. Some involve phony product endorsements, such as fake video of Kelly Clarkson or Shark Tank judges promoting weight- loss gummies. But what most concerns Nofziger are scams where people believe they've entered a romance or friendship with a celebrity. "ese are the ones we see the most," she says. e scammer hits the victim when they are emotionally vulnerable, she explains — when they might be feeling unworthy, lonely, or bored, or grieving the loss of a loved one. e supposed celebrity needs money, whether launching a new charity or putting down money on the house where you both will live. 4. Tech support scams Consumers age 60 and older are ve times more likely than their younger counterparts to lose money to tech support scams, which cost older Americans more $175 million in 2023, the FTC reported to Congress in October 2024. Fraud frequently starts with a pop-up message — oen with a logo from companies like Microso or Apple — saying your computer has a virus. You click a link or call a supposed support number, and they request remote access to your computer. e criminals can now access all of the information on your machine and also install malware. e scammers may also try to sell you useless soware, maintenance or warranty programs. In March 2024, the FTC reached a $26 million settlement with two tech-support companies who used fake Microso pop-ups to lure consumers into buying soware. Or they may install malware to harvest login credentials to your online accounts, including nancial accounts. 5. Card-declined scams e BBB's Scam Tracker has received many recent reports from consumers whose credit cards are declined while making an online purchase. Typically, they try using a dierent card, but that one fails, too. And yet despite the card-declined notices, the charges have actually occurred for each transaction — and oen for more than they thought. Aer her card was denied, one victim tried it a second time, and received the same card-declined message. en her credit card company alerted her that it had declined a $2,500 charge — even though she hadn't made a $2,500 charge while struggling with her transaction, she reported to the BBB. ~ Marcia Casem Finance Committee

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