3 Key Things to Know About Scams in 2025

“They’ve got about 400,000 people, they put them in scam compounds, and they have them work 20 hours a day,” says McKenna, who calls it “the most brutal thing that’s happened to humanity at this scale since World War II.”

Another reason this knowledge is essential: Knowing your adversary’s strength can lead to better defenses.

2. Protect your finances like you protect your health and property.

A sophisticated threat requires strong defenses, but many of us aren’t taking proper steps. Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network, gives an example from a recent talk on financial security. She asked her audience: How many of you lock your doors? How many of you have an alarm or live in a gated community? How many of you have a dog or even a gun? Nearly every hand was raised. Then, she asked, How many of you have a credit freeze on your credit report? Only two hands stayed up.

“You’re probably more likely to be a victim of a fraud or a scam than you are to have your property burglarized,” Nofziger says. “So why are we focusing on someone stealing our TV and not on someone stealing our retirement savings?”

You need to create barriers against scammers. Basic protections include:

• Managing your phone’s settings so any unknown number goes to voicemail.
• On social media, adjusting privacy settings to the most restrictive levels.
• Freezing your credit and regularly checking your credit report.
• Asking your credit card company to send notifications for charges over a certain amount (or for any amount).

Find more tips here and at AARP’s Fraud Resource Center. 

3. Report scams to the authorities.

William Webster was an unlikely scam target. He is a former judge and former director of the FBI and the CIA. And yet in 2014, Webster, then age 90 (he’s 101 now), was targeted in a Jamaica-based lottery scam (victims are told they’ve won money but need to pay a fee before receiving it). When Webster’s wife, Lynda, repeatedly told the scammers to stop calling, one of them issued a chilling threat. She would die, he said, from a sniper’s bullet.

“We were getting lots of scamming calls, and I would tell [William] to hang up, and when he didn’t, I’d get on and say, ‘Look, I’m his wife, I know what you want, and if you call back, I won’t be so nice,’ ” recalls Lynda, who encouraged the FBI to film an elder fraud public service video with her husband in 2022. But one man did call back.

“He told me how nice the blood would look on the walls of our house,” she says.

The Websters reported the scam to the FBI, which arrested the criminal in 2017. The man had targeted many older people; he had manipulated one 82-year-old woman into sending him $600,000.

Reporting scams isn’t just about helping authorities nab criminals. It also helps reveal the size of the problem.

Crime-fighting resources depend in large part on victims’ reporting. “If you live in a neighborhood and people start breaking into cars, you have to call the police and report it, because the police will patrol the neighborhood based upon the number of calls they’re getting,” McKenna says. The same applies to scams: “You have to report crimes to get protections.”

But it’s confusing to know where to report scams, with different agencies tracking them (FTC, Federal Communications Commission, Better Business Bureau), sometimes depending on the type of fraud.

AARP Fraud Watch Network experts recommend contacting your local police so you have an official record of the crime and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov). If you have questions, call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360).