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How to help an older relative avoid crypto scams

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Older adults are heavily targeted by scams that end in crypto, even people who’ve never bought any. Scammers like crypto because payments are fast and nearly impossible to reverse, and they often walk victims to a crypto ATM step by step.

The scams to warn them about

  • Tech support scams. A pop-up or call says their computer is hacked and they must move money to “protect” it.
  • Government impersonation. Someone claiming to be from the police, the tax office or a federal agency says they owe money or are under investigation.
  • Bank impersonation. “Your account has been compromised. Move your savings to this safe account.”
  • Grandchild or family emergency. A call or message, sometimes with a cloned voice, claiming a relative is in trouble and needs money now.
  • Romance and friendship scams that turn into “investment opportunities.” See pig-butchering scams.
The one rule to share: no real government agency, bank, tech company or police department will ever ask you to pay with crypto, a crypto ATM or gift cards. Anyone who does is a scammer.

How to start the conversation

  • Keep it about scammers, not about them. “I read about a scam going around and wanted to warn you” works better than “you’d fall for this.”
  • Share a real example. Make it concrete: the call, the pressure, the crypto ATM.
  • Agree on a pause rule. If anyone asks for money urgently, they hang up and call you or another trusted person first. Real emergencies can wait ten minutes.
  • Set a family code word for phone emergencies, to defeat voice-cloning calls.
  • Make it safe to tell you. Promise you won’t be angry if they’ve already sent money. Shame keeps victims silent and lets losses grow.

Protections to set up together

  1. Turn on call and text spam filtering on their phone.
  2. Add strong two-factor authentication to their email and bank. See our two-factor guide.
  3. Ask their bank about alerts for large transfers and a trusted contact on the account.
  4. If they own crypto, help them write an inheritance plan and keep it somewhere safe.

If they’ve already sent money

  1. Stop any further payments.
  2. Contact their bank right away. Some transfers can still be stopped.
  3. Report it: in the US at ic3.gov and reportfraud.ftc.gov. The AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline offers free support.
  4. Warn them about recovery scams: anyone who contacts them offering to get the money back for a fee.