My 80-year-old father recently fell victim to a financial scam. It wasn't anything particular notable - click an ad, get connected to someone "from the bank" and transfer money to an account in another country under the guise of "protecting it".<p>"Who falls for this stuff?" we tech-literate folks often ask, but in retrospect my father was a good target as my mother had always handled the finances and she passed away a few months prior. So we've got a financially-naive person who is also perhaps just starting to become mentally diminished and he goes along with the scam.<p>More recently a friend's parents of a similar age fell for the "your kid is in jail, you need to give us money for bail" scam.<p>Just today there was a CNN story about dementia patients repeatedly giving to political groups: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/10/politics/political-fundraising-elderly-election-invs-dg/<p>The FBI says there's over $3 billion in annual elder fraud losses, and I'd imagine that's under-reported after seeing the shame and reluctance to talk about it that my father experienced.<p>Are there any existing or emerging tech solutions to any of this? I didn't act until it was too late for my father to be victimized, but my mother-in-law is younger and still sharp. Is there anything we should recommend that she put in place on her accounts <i>before</i> the inevitable decline? Some sort of AI transaction filter that would add safety but also preserve her dignity and autonomy?
The problems you describe only involve "tech" as the vehicle for the scam. The scams can and do just as easily happen in person or over the phone.<p>You can talk to the bank and ask if they can prevent or limit purchases of crypto and large transfers, especially transfers never authorized before. Credit card companies have sophisticated fraud detection mostly based on patterns of legitimate usage, and I think at least some banks do as well. I know my bank (Charles Schwab) will flag unusual transactions outside of my normal patterns.<p>You could move the bulk of the funds into a separate account that requires two signatures, or doesn't allow electronic transfers or crypto purchases at all -- a savings account at a credit union, for example. Only have enough in the current account for the elderly relative to pay their routine bills.<p>I have had this conversation with my own parents, telling them to never trust any unsolicited phone call, email, or pop-up on their phone or computer. They can always call the bank, IRS, police, whomever the scammer impersonates.<p>The only technical solution I can think of involves a basket full of hornets for the scammers who prey on people.