Genesee County, MI — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had a simple question for her audience on Tuesday afternoon at the Burton Senior Activity Center: What are the scammers trying to get from you?

Almost reflexively, the responses came pouring out of the audience: money, information and social security numbers. Some of the responses came from people who had acknowledged that they had been victimized by a scammer in the past. 

The reality of 2024 for senior citizens, who are targeted the most by scammers, is stark. There is now a cottage industry of impersonation scams, as one example, that costs Americans more than $1 billion each year (based on figures from the Federal Trade Commission). To make matters worse, scammers now have a toolbox of technology that makes separating truth from fiction incredibly difficult, and not just for seniors.

(Nessel’s name was actually used in an email scam earlier this year that purported to help victims of, you guessed it, another scam.) 

“The scams are changing all the time,” Nessel said. “They change with the season; they change with current events. Even though they change, the basic ingredients of a scam remain.”

Basic Ingredients of a Scam

• An Urgent Request (“I have to have the funds today”)
• A Secret Request (“This is a special offer, don’t tell anyone”)
• Believable Stories (The distressed loved-one tactic, for example)
• Unusual Payment Types (scammers love untraceable means of payment like gift cards, crypto, etc.)

As we near the end of tax season, Nessel said everyone should be aware of tax rebate scams that pop up.

“Each year at tax time, bad actors appear out of the woodwork to scam hard-working consumers out of their tax refund,” Nessel said. “Remember, government agencies rarely ask for personal information by phone or email. These calls and emails should be reported immediately.”

Fortunately, sometimes all it takes is the mention of the Attorney General’s Office to make a phone scammer uneasy.

“Mention my office and normally you’ll hear that click on the other end of the line,” Nessel said.

In her more than 90-minute presentation, Nessel hit on numerous topics related to scams including phishing (email), smishing (text), artificial intelligence and impersonation.  Her office fields more than 11,000 consumer complaints each year. If you think you are the victim of a scam, you can file a complaint on the AG’s website HERE. 

For more information, visit the main website of the Michigan Department of Attorney General.