With the holidays on the horizon, advocates are reminding older Marylanders to watch out for scams during the upcoming season.

Federal Trade Commission data through the first nine months of this year show more than 30,000 reported incidents of fraud in Maryland.

The most common type of consumer fraud in the state is the impostor scam, carried out online or on the phone either via voice call or text message, where a person pretends to represent a government agency, bank or credit card company.

Jen Holz, associate state director of outreach for AARP Maryland, said if they are contacting you, do not give out your information.

"Never, ever, ever give any identifiable information to anyone over the phone who has contacted you," Holz advised. "If you're not sure, and you think that this could be legitimate, go and look up the number to your bank or to your credit card company and call them back directly. And then say, 'Hey, did you call me? Is there a problem with my account?'"

The FTC ranks Maryland fourth in the nation for impostor scams. AARP Maryland hosts fraud-education events online in addition to periodic document-shredding events. For more information on both, visit AARP.org/MD.

As artificial intelligence has become more accessible to the masses, fraudsters have kept up. One of the most common impostor scams targeting older adults is the so-called "Grandparents scam" where the caller poses as a loved one in crisis, needing money. Current technology enables scammers to not only sound like a loved one, but with caller ID spoofing, even the phone number appears legitimate.

Holz added scammers often attempt to get paid in ways that are hard to trace, including cryptocurrency or gift cards.

"If they ask you for a gift card or to go buy a gift card to pay off a debt, then you know instantly without a shadow of a doubt, it is a scam," Holz stressed. "Gift cards are for gifts. They are not for payments."

In addition to impostor scams, the FTC tracks numerous types of fraud including online shopping, investments, job opportunities, debt management, sweepstakes, even office supplies. Holz pointed out the fraudsters are professionals and there are scams out there targeting just about anyone.

"Because these professional scammers are so good at what they're doing, it's happening to people of all types," Holz explained. "All levels of education, all ages, and what AARP is really trying to do is implement, this anti-victim shaming culture change if you will, to make sure that we're talking about the scammers as the problem and not the folks who have had this happen to them."

Pennsylvanians over age 50 are voicing concerns about the Department of Government Efficiency plans to cut 7,000 jobs from the U.S. Social Security Administration as part of its efforts to shrink the federal government and curb what it describes as waste and fraud.

More than one in five Pennsylvanians get monthly Social Security payments, according to AARP, almost 3 million people.

Nora Dowd Eisenhower, volunteer state president of AARP Pennsylvania, said all the changes have left many beneficiaries confused and worried about potential office closures, employee layoffs and reduced services.

"We are working to make sure that Americans receive the Social Security they have worked hard for and paid for over their entire working lives," Dowd Eisenhower emphasized.

Social Security benefits contribute almost $63 billion a year to Pennsylvania's economy through retirement, survivors and disability payments, according to AARP, all of which boost consumer spending, business sales, and job creation across the state.

Dowd Eisenhower pointed out the Social Security Administration had planned big changes to its phone services in March that would have caused delays and hassles but the decision was reversed this month after intense pushback. She noted AARP members have long been vocal about the need for better customer service from the Social Security Administration.

"Last year, four out of five older Americans, across party lines, supported increased funding for the Social Security Administration as a way to improve customer service," Dowd Eisenhower reported.

President Donald Trump's senior adviser Elon Musk claims Social Security could be cut by $500 billion to $700 billion without reducing benefits.

Dowd Eisenhower added AARP is urging Congress to make sure the Social Security Administration makes payments on time, as it has for nearly 90 years, and provides quality customer service by phone, online and in person.

Back-and-forth decisions on Social Security policies have created confusion, which may leave some Virginians more vulnerable to scams.

Last month, the Social Security Administration announced in-person or online appointments would be required to sign up for benefits, instead of customer support by phone. The decision has now been reversed.

Jim Dau, state director of AARP Virginia, said the changes give con artists room to come up with new scams. He noted they often start with a phone call, text or email about something "urgent." If you receive such communication saying it is from the Social Security Administration, Dau warns, it is a scam.

"This is the perfect kind of recipe for financial predators to step in and escalate Social Security scams to defraud beneficiaries of their money," Dau stressed. "Social Security scams are effective in this kind of environment -- where people are getting information from here, and bits of information from here -- where we are going to see more and more Social Security scams."

Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk has said Social Security has "massive" amounts of fraud, but a review by the Social Security Administration's Inspector General has found the agency has made improper payments less than 1% of the time.

More than 1.6 million Virginians receive Social Security benefits. Dau emphasized the monthly income is a lifeline to people across the Commonwealth. He added the administration's initial changes which would have required people to sign up for benefits in person would have negatively affected seniors.

"The prospect of having to go to an in-person meeting at your local Social Security office, hopefully get there on time at a point where the line isn't too long and you have a reasonable chance of actually seeing somebody that day," Dau outlined. "And of course, hopefully your Social Security office is open that day - or at all anymore."

The administration has announced lease terminations of nearly 4% of Social Security field offices. An analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds nine percent of Virginia seniors already live more than 45 miles from the nearest office.

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, plans to cut 7,000 jobs from the U.S. Social Security Administration as it works to reduce the size of the federal government by eliminating waste and fraud. Nearly one in six Coloradans relies on Social Security payments, according to AARP.

Economist Monique Morrissey with the Economic Policy Institute calls the planned cuts a form of sabotage, and says Social Security is already very efficient.

"Less than 1% of what they are paying out goes to administrative costs. That's including not just the staffing, but the office space and everything else," she said. "So, almost all the money that's going out of Social Security is going directly into beneficiaries' pockets."

Morrissey added the agency is challenged by staffing, which has recently fallen to a 50-year low. She said wait times for phone and in-person appointments have already skyrocketed, and half of all callers now hang up before anyone answers.

President Donald Trump's Senior Advisor Elon Musk claims Social Security could be cut by $500 billion without reducing benefits, but Morrissey said layoffs can only save that kind of money by making it harder for people to access their benefits.

"And they claim that they can do this through looking for waste, fraud and abuse. But when you consider that less than 1% goes to anything that's improper payments - which is mostly not fraud, but just mistakes, and that usually get recouped - you can't get half a trillion dollars out of it and not be cutting benefits," she continued.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security will run out of money in less than ten years unless Congress acts. Morrissey noted the majority of Americans would rather increase revenues than cut benefits, and added that one easy fix would be to remove the cap on payroll taxes.

"Everybody should pay the same share of their income into Social Security, and right now that is not happening. If you make more than $176,100, you don't pay taxes above that amount," she explained.

The Social Security office in Grand Junction is on a DOGE list of possible closures in June, although the agency said last month it "had not announced the permanent closure of any local field office."


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