MW My mother, 89, keeps getting her credit card scammed. I buy her a new one and it happens again. What's going on?

By Quentin Fottrell

'It hasn't stopped'

Dear Quentin,

My 89-year-old mother keeps getting her two credit cards scammed. Then she gets new ones and it happens again. I had set both up with my phone for the cell contact and my email address, but it hasn't stopped.

She cannot remember not to give out info or to hang up and call the number on the back of the card whenever someone calls her purporting to be from the credit-card company. Even when the email with the temporary code says "American Express $(AXP)$ will never ask for this code," she gives the code to a guy on the phone.

What can I do? What if I gave her an authorized user card from my own account? Would that help? I would set it up to be immediately notified by text for every transaction. What are the potential liabilities?

Concerned Adult Child

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Dear Concerned,

You should be an authorized user on her accounts - not the other way around.

Either your mother is falling for the same phishing scams over the phone or email, and she is willingly giving her information out to this bad actor over the phone, or someone with access to your mother's credit card is repeatedly stealing the information. That person could be a family member, I'm sorry to say, or a domestic worker (caretaker, nurse or cleaner).

Your mother doesn't need a credit card at this point in her life, especially if she is showing signs of dementia and/or she is having trouble managing her finances. Change her passwords and phone number, and make sure you can access these accounts. Contact her bank to alert them to the potential of phishing, skimming or even fraud from someone she knows.

If she doesn't have a credit card, it won't get scammed. Ask your mother to sign durable power of attorney documents so you can oversee her finances, and explain this is one way to relieve her of the stress and hassle that comes with these constant scams. If she becomes incapacitated, it will remain valid and help you manage her financial affairs.

The National Center on Elder Abuse, a government agency affiliated with the U.S. Administration on Aging, says that one in 10 people over 60 in the U.S. experienced some form of abuse in the prior year. Research still lags all the new forms of financial abuse, and it may be that fraud figures are much higher than the official tally.

Setting up automatic payments on any other accounts will reduce both the risk of your mother falling behind on bills and the need for her to access her accounts frequently.

Setting up automatic payments on any other accounts will reduce both the risk of your mother falling behind on bills and the need for her to access her accounts frequently. You can also offer to help review her accounts once a week to ensure there are no unusual transactions. Credit cards and valuables should not be left lying around.

Your mother should also set up two-factor authentication to access her bank accounts. That way, if someone did access them without her permission, she would get an alert on her phone. Another simple rule: Make sure her computer password - which should not be easy for others to guess - is not stuck on a Post-it on her computer screen.

Everyone should be educated on financial fraud, which can take the form of scam artists randomly calling elderly people to tell them that their computer has a bug so they can gain access to it or asking the would-be victim to read security codes texted to their phone. One way to avoid this scourge? Don't answer unknown numbers. That's easier said than done.

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Freeze accounts

Assuming your mother has no reason to take out any loans, she can also freeze her account with all three major credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax - so no one can take out loans or open accounts in her name. This is also good practice for anyone whose accounts or Social Security number have been compromised.

MetLife conducted a major study on the subject, finding that women were nearly twice as likely as men to be victims of elder financial abuse. Most victims were over the age of 80, lived alone and - this is the part that should interest you and your mother - required some level of help with either healthcare or home maintenance. But it can happen to anyone.

Your mother's financial documents should be locked away. "In almost all of the cases, there existed a combination of tenuous, valued independence and observable vulnerability that merged in the lives of victims to optimize opportunities for abuse by every type of perpetrator - from the closest family members to professional criminals," the study found.

Elder financial abuse appears to fall into the categories of 'occasion, desperation and predation' or, put another way, opportunity, financial need and strategic exploitation.

It could also be someone known to your mother. As this woman told me, her own parents' identity had been stolen when she was a child. At 19, she discovered her own identity was stolen when she was 11. This person racked up $500,000 in credit-card debt. What she did not know: the culprit was her own mother - the one person she went to for advice and consolation.

Elder financial abuse, the researchers theorized, appears to fall into the categories of "occasion, desperation and predation" - or, put another way, mere opportunity, financial need and strategic exploitation. If your mother has several caretakers coming and going through her home, it only takes one bad actor to create a problem.

You may be her last line of defense. Roughly 10% of people over 65 experience some form of abuse, according to studies cited by a paper published in the Cureus, a peer-reviewed online medical journal. "These rates are often higher in long-term-care facilities such as nursing homes, despite government regulations aimed toward addressing this issue," the authors wrote.

Healthcare professionals, they added, "are often undertrained and ill-equipped in diagnosing elder abuse." For that reason, it's important for friends and relatives to be vigilant with elderly loved ones, especially if their health is declining. That means reviewing documents regularly and keeping logins and passwords in a safe place.

Your mother needs to cancel all credit cards today.

You can IdentityTheft.gov to report identity theft and get a recovery plan. It is managed by the Federal Trade Commission. You can also call 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338); Telecommunications device for the deaf: 1-866-653-4261.

The National Careline offers advice on next steps, including contacting the local council and reporting the issue to her local Adult Protective Services, District Attorney's office, and/or to the police or Sheriff's office. Find your local APS here.

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You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com, and follow Quentin Fottrell on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

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-Quentin Fottrell

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July 01, 2025 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)

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