Technology

Top 12 elderly fraud scams of 2024

Published

6 months ago

July 22, 2024

Senior citizens are often targets for scams, and as scams are getting more sophisticated, it’s getting easier to deceive even the most tech-savvy person. Elder fraud involves a variety of scams targeting seniors, from fake prizes to pleas for help from their “grandchildren,” resulting in an annual loss of $3 billion, according to the FBI. Seniors are often targeted due to their good credit, financial security and trusting nature. Here are the top elderly fraud scams of the year:

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A man using his phone to shop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

1) Tech support or home repair scam

In this scam, people pose as tech support or home repair professionals from reputable companies like Amazon, offering to fix non-existent issues. Seniors should be wary of unsolicited calls and independently verify the caller’s identity. In some cases, they may even show up at your front door, telling you that they noticed your roof needs repair or something along those lines.

A man on his laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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2) Relative phone scam

This scam is one of the worst ones. Fraudsters claim to be a grandchild or close relative urgently needing financial help. The scammers will say something like their grandchild has been in an accident and needs money to help them get to the hospital or something along those lines.

If the senior catches on and realizes it’s a scam, the fraudster will say they have kidnapped their grandchild and won’t release them until the senior pays up. In most cases, it’s a scam. Before acting, always verify the story with other family members and try calling your grandchild. (This is a good excuse to encourage them to answer the phone more often.)

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A man using phone and laptop at the same time (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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3) Government impersonation scam

This is when scammers pretend to be officials from agencies like the IRS, DEA or FBI and threaten legal action unless a payment is made. Scammers can also do this by phone spoofing, making it so that when they call the person they are targeting, their name and number actually show up in the caller ID as one of these agencies. Remember, these agencies will never call to demand money, and most companies won’t, either.

4) Sweepstakes or lottery scam

Wouldn’t it be nice to find out you’ve just won the lottery? Well, chances are, the exciting news is actually a scam. The sweepstakes or lottery scam happens when seniors receive calls from a scammer claiming they’ve won a sweepstakes or lottery but must pay a fee to claim their prize. They’ll never ask you to pay money first if it’s an authentic sweepstakes.

A person holding lottery tickets (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

5) TV and radio scam

Scammers place ads for fraudulent services on TV or radio, tricking seniors into calling and handing over money, whether for a certain product or service. Always research companies thoroughly before buying from them.

A woman on her phone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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6) Geek Squad phishing scam

In this particular scam, fraudsters send fake Geek Squad invoices via email, prompting seniors to call a provided number. During the call, scammers steal personal information under the guise of resolving a fake issue. Avoid clicking on suspicious links, and verify invoices through official company contacts.

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7) Overpayment scam

If you’re one to balance your checkbook the “old-fashioned” way, then you may have a hard time falling for this scam. Here, they’ll trick victims into believing they were accidentally overpaid for an item, service, bill or subscription, convincing them to refund the fake overpayment. To do this, they’ll ask for your sensitive data, including your bank account information. Always verify such claims with your bank or the relevant company before taking any action.

8) Unsubscribe email scam

Similar to the above, emails in your inbox that claim to help you unsubscribe from services are often actually phishing attempts to steal personal information. Sometimes, there will even be an “unsubscribe” link right in the email. Always use official websites to manage subscriptions and avoid clicking on unknown email links.

9) Health insurance scam

When it’s that time of year again to enroll in your health insurance plan, be on the lookout for scammers that take advantage of this. They’ll call offering fake health insurance plans or services, pretending to be health insurance brokers or what have you, often requesting personal information to “see what you’re eligible for.” Verify any health insurance offer with your provider directly.

A man using his laptop and holding cash (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

10) Charity scam

It’s not uncommon for elderly people to be generous with their giving. But you don’t want to give too much or give it to a charity that’s not really a charity! Another tactic by fraudsters is to manipulate elders by soliciting donations for fake charities, especially after natural disasters. In this day and age, it’s not very common for these charities to call, but they could. Never give out your information or money right away. Thank them for their call, take the time to research an organization and make sure it is legitimate before deciding what to do.

11) Romance scam

Finally, scammers build fake romantic relationships online to extract money from seniors. A senior who’s feeling lonely and wants to build a connection with someone may fall for this scam without realizing it, assuming the person is genuine. If they do ask for money, they justify it by feeling connected to the person until it’s too late. Though plenty of seniors find genuine love online, sometimes meeting lifelong partners, be cautious about sharing personal information or sending money to someone you’ve only met online. There could be ulterior motives.

A woman sitting on a bench and looking out at the sea (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

12) Artificial intelligence scams

Artificial intelligence (AI) scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and pose a significant threat to seniors. These scams use AI technology to create convincing fake audio, video or text messages that appear to come from trusted sources. Here are some key points about AI scams targeting the elderly:

Deepfake voice scams: AI can clone voices, allowing scammers to impersonate family members or authority figures in phone calls, making the “grandparent scam” even more convincing.
AI-generated phishing emails: Scammers use AI to craft personalized, grammatically correct emails that appear legitimate, making them harder to detect as fraud.
Chatbot impersonation: AI chatbots can mimic customer service representatives, tech support or government officials, tricking seniors into revealing personal information or making payments.
Fake video calls: Advanced AI can create realistic video avatars, enabling scammers to impersonate loved ones or officials in video chats.
AI-enhanced social engineering: Scammers use AI to gather and analyze personal information from social media, creating highly targeted and personalized scams.

To protect against AI scams, seniors should be cautious of unsolicited communications, verify identities through trusted channels, and stay informed about the latest AI-based fraud techniques. It’s crucial to educate older adults about these evolving threats and encourage them to report suspicious activities to the National Elder Fraud Hotline.

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12 tips to protect against senior scams

As scams targeting seniors become increasingly sophisticated, it’s crucial for older adults to arm themselves with knowledge and caution. The following 12 tips can help seniors stay one step ahead of fraudsters and protect their financial well-being and personal information.

1) Be wary of unsolicited calls, emails or messages. Never give out personal information or send money to unknown individuals.

2) Take your time and don’t act quickly under pressure. Scammers often create a false sense of urgency.

3) Verify the identity of callers claiming to be relatives in distress. Contact other family members to confirm the story before taking any action.

4) Be suspicious of requests for unusual payment methods like gift cards or wire transfers.

5) Keep computer and smartphone security software up to date and use two-factor authentication when possible.

6) Carefully review bills and credit card statements for unauthorized charges.

7) Be cautious of “free” offers that require payment for shipping or other fees.

8) Don’t trust caller ID alone, as scammers can fake legitimate numbers.

9) Be skeptical of unsolicited investment opportunities or deals that seem too good to be true.

10) Report suspected scams to local law enforcement, the National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) or the Federal Trade Commission.

11) Don’t click on links in emails or text messages from unknown sources. If you’re unsure, go directly to the official website by typing the address into your browser. The best way to protect yourself from clicking malicious links that install malware that may get access to your private information is to have antivirus protection installed on all your devices. This can also alert you of any phishing emails or ransomware scams. Get my picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

12) Invest in personal data removal services. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of continuously removing your information from hundreds of sites over a longer period. Remove your personal data from the internet with my top picks here.

By staying vigilant and following these precautions, seniors can better protect themselves from falling victim to fraudulent schemes.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Scammers generally don’t care who their victims are, but they know who they can target to execute their tactics better. Don’t fall for them. If anything in your gut tells you the situation is unusual, it probably is. After all, you’ve gained much life experience to know if something isn’t right. The general rule of thumb is that the more urgent the situation is that they are asking for money, chances are it is a scam. Don’t let your emotions get involved, and take a minute to figure out what’s really going on.

Have you ever been in a situation like this where you realized it was a scam? Or, have you maybe even fallen for one of these before? What happened? What did you do? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

How Watch Duty’s wildfire tracking app became a crucial lifeline for LA

Published

2 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

How Watch Duty’s wildfire tracking app became a crucial lifeline for LA

If you live in Los Angeles, you are probably already intimately familiar with Watch Duty, the free app that shows active fires, mandatory evacuation zones, air quality indexes, wind direction, and a wealth of other information that everyone, from firefighters to regular people, have come to rely on during this week’s historic and devastating wildfires.

Watch Duty is unique in the tech world in that it doesn’t care about user engagement, time spent, or ad sales. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit behind it only cares about the accuracy of the information it provides and the speed with which the service can deliver that information. The app itself has taken off, rocketing to the top of Apple’s and Google’s app stores. Over 1 million people have downloaded it over the last few days alone.

The elegance of the app lies in its simplicity. It doesn’t scrape user data, show ads, require any kind of login, or track your information. Its simple tech stack and UI — most of which is maintained by volunteer engineers and reporters — has likely helped save countless lives. While Watch Duty is free to use, the app accepts tax-deductible donations and offers two tiers of membership that unlock additional features, like a firefighting flight tracker and the ability to set alerts for more than four counties.

With plans to expand the service across the United States, as well as overseas and into other emergency services, Watch Duty may eventually replace some of the slower and less reliable local government alert systems for millions of people.

Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol / Anadolu via Getty Images

An app born from fire

The idea for Watch Duty came to cofounder John Mills while he was trying to protect his off-grid Sonoma County home from the Walbridge fire in 2020. He realized there wasn’t a single source for all the information people needed to protect themselves from the blaze, which ultimately killed 33 people and destroyed 156 homes. John and his friend David Merritt, who is Watch Duty’s cofounder and CTO, decided to build an app to help.

“This came out of an idea that John had, and he talked to me about it four years ago,” Merritt tells The Verge. “We built the app in 60 days, and it was run completely by volunteers, no full-time staff. It was a side project for a lot of engineers, so the aim was to keep it as simple as possible.”

Fire reporting is piecemeal at best in fire-prone areas and frequently scattered across platforms like Facebook and X, where fire departments and counties have verified pages sharing relevant updates. But increasingly, social media platforms are putting automated access for alert services behind paywalls. Governments also use a wide variety of alert systems, causing delays that can cost lives, especially in fast-moving fires like the Palisades and Eaton fires that have forced evacuations for more than 180,000 people. And sometimes, these government-run alerts are sent out mistakenly, causing mass confusion.

Watch Duty simplifies all that for millions of people.

“We view what we are doing as a public service,” says Merritt. “It is a utility that everyone should have, which is timely, relevant information for their safety during emergencies. Right now, it’s very scattered. Even the agencies themselves, which have the best intentions, their hands are tied by bureaucracy or contracts. We partner with government sources with a focus on firefighting.”

“We view what we are doing as a public service.”

One of the biggest issues around fires, in particular, is that they can move quickly and consume large swaths of land and structures in minutes. For example, the winds that drove the Palisades fire to spread to more than 10,000 acres reached 90 miles per hour on Tuesday. When minutes matter, the piecemeal alert system that Watch Duty replaces can cause delays that cost lives.

“Some of the delivery systems for push notifications and text messages that government agencies use had a 15-minute delay, which is not good for fire,” says Merritt. “We shoot to have push notifications out in under a minute. Right now, 1.5 million people in LA are getting push notifications through the app. That’s a lot of messages to send out in 60 seconds. In general, people are getting it pretty much all at the same time.”

A simple tech stack

For Watch Duty, this kind of mass communication requires reliable technology as well as a group of dedicated staff and skilled volunteers. Merritt says that Watch Duty relies on a number of corporate partners with whom it has relationships and contracts to provide its service.

“We shoot to have push notifications out in under a minute.”

The app is built on a mix of technology, including Google’s cloud platform, Amazon Web Services, Firebase, Fastly, and Heroku. Merritt says the app uses some AI, but only for internal routing of alerts and emails. Reporters at Watch Duty — those who listen to scanners and update the app with push notifications about everything from air drops to evacuation updates — are mostly volunteers who coordinate coverage via Slack.

“All information is vetted for quality over quantity,” he says. “We have a code of conduct for reporters. For example, we never report on injuries or give specific addresses. It’s all tailored with a specific set of criteria. We don’t editorialize. We report on what we have heard on the scanners.”

According to Merritt, the app has 100 percent uptime. Even though it started with volunteer engineers, the nonprofit has slowly added more full-time people. “We still have volunteers helping us, but it’s becoming more on the internal paid staff as we grow, as things get more complex, and as we have more rigorous processes,” he says.

“All information is vetted for quality over quantity.”

He says there are no plans to ever charge for the app or scrape user data. The approach is kind of the Field of Dreams method to building a free app that saves people’s lives: if you build it well, the funding will come.

“It’s the antithesis of what a lot of tech does,” Merritt says. “We don’t want you to spend time in the app. You get information and get out. We have the option of adding more photos, but we limit those to the ones that provide different views of a fire we have been tracking. We don’t want people doom scrolling.”

Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images

Collecting information in the era of Trump

Watch Duty relies heavily on publicly available information from places like the National Weather Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Should the incoming Trump administration decide to execute on threats to dismantle and disband the EPA (which monitors air quality) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency to the National Weather Service, such moves would impact Watch Duty’s ability to operate.

Even still, Merritt is optimistic. “We will be pretty well insulated from any change to policy,” he says. “We are either buying that information ourselves already or we are happy to buy it, and we will take that cost on. The fact that we’re soon going to be covering the entire US will defray the cost of anything that shifts from a policy perspective. Our operation costs are mostly salaries. We are trying to hire really good engineers and have a really solid platform. If we need to raise a grant to buy data from the National Weather Service, then we will.”

Regardless of what the next administration does, it’s clear that Watch Duty has become a critical and necessary app for those in Southern California right now. The app currently covers 22 states and plans to roll out nationwide soon.

“We got 1.4 million app downloads in the last few days,” according to Merritt. “I think we have only received 60 support tickets, so that shows that something is working there. We are really just focused on the delivery of this information.”

Technology

China’s newest humanoid robot is ready to serve like never before

Published

3 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

China’s newest humanoid robot is ready to serve like never before

Chinese startup Pudu Robotics has unveiled its latest creation, the D9 humanoid robot, designed to revolutionize the way we work and interact with machines.

Standing at an impressive 5.57 feet tall, this bipedal machine is not just another robot — it’s a versatile assistant ready to tackle a wide range of tasks in various settings.

D9 humanoid robot. (Pudu Robotics)

Capabilities and features of the humanoid robot

The D9 is no ordinary robot. With its ability to walk upright and carry loads up to 44 pounds, it’s built to handle real-world challenges. But what sets it apart from its predecessors?

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Advanced mobility: The D9 can walk at speeds of up to 4.5 mph, outpacing the average human stroll. It’s not just about speed, though. This robot can navigate stairs, slopes and even maintain balance when knocked off-kilter.

Intelligent navigation: Equipped with high-accuracy sensors, the D9 creates real-time 3D semantic maps of its surroundings. This allows for autonomous route planning and precise self-positioning.

Versatile applications: From performing ground cleaning tasks with the Pudu SH1 to carrying boxes in warehouses and stocking shelves in stores, the D9’s potential applications are vast.

Natural interaction: Perhaps most impressively, the D9 boasts “human-level multimodal natural interactions,” thanks to its sophisticated artificial intelligence processing frameworks.

D9 humanoid robot. (Pudu Robotics)

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The evolution of Pudu robotics

The D9 isn’t Pudu’s first foray into robotics. In September, they introduced the D7, a semi-humanoid robot on wheels designed for tasks like sorting components, serving in restaurants and operating elevators. The D9 builds on this foundation, expanding the range of possible applications.

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D9 humanoid robot. (Pudu Robotics)

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Competitive landscape

With the introduction of the D9, Pudu Robotics enters a competitive field alongside giants like Tesla and Unitree. While pricing details for the D9 are yet to be announced, it’s speculated to fall in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, similar to Tesla’s Optimus.

D9 humanoid robot. (Pudu Robotics)

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Kurt’s key takeaways

The Pudu D9 showcases advanced mobility and intelligent interaction capabilities. As it prepares to enter the market, its potential impact on various industries could be profound, transforming how we approach tasks across sectors. The future looks promising for humanoid robots like the D9 as they pave the way for more efficient and interactive work environments.

What concerns do you have about the potential impact of humanoid robots like the Pudu D9 on the future of work and everyday life? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

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Technology

Intel still dreams of modular PCs — it brought a tablet laptop gaming handheld to CES

Published

12 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Intel still dreams of modular PCs — it brought a tablet laptop gaming handheld to CES

At CES 2025, Intel let journalists into its private “Innovation Showcase,” where we saw things like prototype next-gen laptops and giant stereo 3D handheld gaming PCs.

While I was there, I also spotted a heavy metal handheld on a table that didn’t seem… fully attached… to its screen. When I lifted the screen, it came away easily.

It felt suspiciously light to be a real tablet, so I flipped it over and saw three connectors underneath:

Above it, on a shelf, was a laptop with a suspiciously sized chunk of plastic on the bottom that looked like a perfect match. A minute later, Intel gaming evangelist Colin Helms confirmed: I was looking at a concept modular PC.

That module contains a complete Intel Lunar Lake computer, the entire guts you’d need to make one work outside of peripherals and screen. It’s basically a reboot of Intel’s abandoned Compute Card idea, except it’s not all Intel’s doing and you probably shouldn’t ever expect it to ship.

It’s a concept from Quanta, a company whose name you don’t typically see on the laptops and tablets they create, because Quanta is an ODM (like Compal, Pegatron, Wistron, and Apple’s better known iPhone supplier Foxconn) that designs and manufactures hardware on behalf of brand names.

Quanta’s calling the whole modular system the “AI8A,” and the aforementioned module at its heart is the “Detachable AI Core.” Helms told me it plugs into other concept computers as well, including an all-in-one desktop that Intel didn’t have to show off. And presumably, like the Compute Card idea, you could upgrade your computer just by putting a new new module into it.

The modular laptop has lots of concept-y bells and whistles too, so many that Intel’s CES staff hadn’t even worked them all out yet.

For starts, the laptop has a motorized hinge, so you can tell it to open and close its own lid; it also claims to offer eye-tracking that lets you sling around multitasking windows just by looking at where you’d like them to be. It apparently comes with a mouse integrated into a ring that you could wear.

The most mundane: a built-in Qi wireless charging pad in the palmrest, with indicator lights to show your battery’s remaining capacity.

I couldn’t try any of it working, unfortunately, nor did I manage to ask what “AI8A” means, because I mistakenly thought it said Aiba until I checked my photos closely just now. Nor could we hotswap the module between the handheld and laptop, since the module apparently doesn’t have a battery inside.

Again, this is a cool computing concept car: it’s not likely that this computer will ever ship, even in a more practical / less gadgety form. Thankfully, we have begun to see some real, practical modularity in the laptop space since the death of Intel’s Compute Card. Framework just celebrated its fifth anniversary this week, and Dell took a smaller step forward at CES with its first modular repairable USB-C port.

Photos by Sean Hollister / The Verge