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Senior citizens are losing money to online scams at an alarming rate, and it will take a collective effort to reverse the trend. At the 2026 RSAC Conference in San Francisco last month, experts proposed curbing elder fraud through systemic intervention. Let’s take a look at these fraud-fighting proposals and learn how everyone can protect vulnerable people from scams.
Why Seniors Are the #1 Target for Online Scammers
While scams happen to everyone, seniors take the biggest financial hit. According to the Federal Trade Commission, older adults in the US lost more than $2 billion to scams in 2024.
(Credit: National Cybersecurity Alliance/RSAC)New research from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) shows that nearly three-quarters of older adults (55+) have experienced a scam or know someone who has. The report stated that the effects of online scams go beyond financial hits, though, as many of those affected report mental and physical health impacts like anxiety and a reluctance to engage with technology.
The NCOA’s report also stated that 91% of respondents said online platform owners and operators should do more to stop scam ads. Maladvertising (when scammers buy or intercept ad space on legit websites, and deliver ads for fake apps) has been on the rise for years, as I noted last year in my report on scareware scams. When you download the apps, you’re often giving the scammer access to your browser data, or even your device.
Building Scam-Proof Systems Before the Fraud Hits
At the RSAC conference last month, Lisa Plaggemier, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, and Rick Swenson, managing director at TIAA, a financial services company, urged service providers, governments, corporations, and the general public to implement scam-resistant customer-facing systems. The pair offered security-first solutions applicable to a wide range of online platforms that may prevent fraudsters from using tactics like phishing or social engineering to trick people into connecting to their devices or gaining access to their bank or email accounts.
Every industry has a different approach to fraud prevention with Plaggemier and Swenson’s plan. For example, email service providers could use AI solutions to improve brand lookalike detection, which prevents people from clicking on fake emails from Amazon or other popular shopping platforms.
Financial institutions also play a role in this fraud-prevention plan. Banks can add more friction to cash withdrawal requests by adding warnings and alerts, and by calling customers to verify identities before allowing bank transfers over a certain amount. Governments can help by funding support for scam victims and facilitating better intelligence sharing with the private cybersecurity community.
In the meantime, we, as customers, will need to change our online habits to be more secure and create more obstacles to prevent scammers or hackers from accessing sensitive data online or on our devices. That means you’ll need to start screening your phone calls, enable spam filters for your text messages, use multi-factor authentication or passkeys for your online accounts, and keep your devices up to date.
The Software That Stops Scammers Before They Strike
While we wait for policymakers, programmers, and tech suppliers to protect their customers, using scam prevention software may be a good stopgap solution. Luckily, there are companies led by people who are interested in helping elders avoid scams. One of the most well-known is Kitboga, a YouTube personality, scammer-baiting streamer, and the founder of an anti-scam software company.
Recently, I spoke with Kitboga about his new scam prevention tool, Seraph Secure, and he recounted a time when he was asked to help stop an older family friend from sending $40,000 to an online scammer.
“She's crying frantically, she doesn't know what to do. We're trying to explain the scam to her, and she was just beside herself. She was too afraid to even touch her computer. That was the moment when I was like, wait a second, maybe we could build something. I've got a software engineering background.”
That’s when Kitboga and other friends created Seraph Secure, free software that prevents tech support scammers (or anyone else you don’t know) from connecting to your computer. Think of it as a last line of defense that keeps scammers off of your home network and away from your devices, even if someone tries to give them permission to connect.
It’s not hard to find reputable scam prevention software. Most big cybersecurity companies, like Bitdefender, McAfee, and Nord, offer scam protection suites or add-ons for their security suites. These packages typically include an ad-blocking extension for your browser, so you can’t accidentally click an ad and infect your device with malware or allow a remote connection.
Report Scams—Your Action Protects Everyone
Stopping scams involves reporting scams, too. The NCOA research shows that though many older adults contacted their bank after being scammed, fewer than 20% reported the crimes to law enforcement, and even fewer reported the scams to the FTC. Shame was a big factor preventing people from speaking up, as victims expressed embarrassment or guilt.
In an ideal situation, if more people report scams, companies and governments will analyze this data, learn about the tactics scammers use, and make relatively small policy and software changes to ensure customer safety. Your nightmare experience could result in better protection for everyone on the apps and sites you use every day.
If you, or someone you know, has been the victim of a scam, report the incident to the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Identity Theft Resource Center. The FTC’s online identity theft recovery center also has good advice for recovering from an online scam.