BRYN MAWR, PA — Visiting Angels is urging families to help older adults protect themselves from online fraud during the holiday shopping season, offering cybersecurity guidance as increasingly sophisticated scams threaten seniors’ financial security and personal information.
The Bryn Mawr-based home care provider recommends that families use holiday gatherings to review security settings, identify suspicious communications and establish procedures for verifying unexpected requests for money or sensitive information.
The guidance follows an FBI report showing that Americans 60 and older lost more than $7.7 billion to fraud in 2025, a 37% increase from the previous year.
The Federal Trade Commission also reported that consumers lost $2.1 billion to scams originating on social media in 2025, with fraudulent shopping offers among the most frequently reported schemes.
Holiday shopping, charitable donations, package deliveries and increased communication with relatives create opportunities for criminals to disguise fraudulent messages as legitimate transactions or personal requests.
“Cybersecurity is an important pillar of everyday safety, especially as more seniors use technology to shop, communicate with family, manage finances, review health records, and stay connected to the outside world,” said Scott Parrish, president of Visiting Angels.
Among the threats identified by the company are artificial intelligence-generated impersonation scams, which use fabricated voices, videos or messages to convince victims that a relative or trusted individual needs financial assistance.
Criminals also use phishing emails and text messages that appear to come from banks, retailers or other established organizations to obtain passwords, payment information and personal records.
Fraudulent shopping websites and social media advertisements can expose consumers to payment theft, while gift card scams frequently involve individuals impersonating legitimate organizations or acquaintances.
Other schemes involve callers posing as government officials, utility representatives or technical support personnel. These individuals may threaten arrest, financial penalties or service interruptions to pressure victims into immediate payments.
Visiting Angels cautions that unsolicited technical support calls and pop-up warnings claiming a device has been compromised may be attempts to obtain payment or unauthorized access to computers.
The company recommends that older adults avoid responding immediately to unexpected requests, particularly those involving financial transfers, account credentials or urgent demands.
Families can establish a verification procedure by designating a trusted relative whom an older adult can contact before sending money or disclosing sensitive information.
Unexpected requests should be confirmed through independently obtained telephone numbers or official websites rather than contact information supplied in suspicious messages.
Visiting Angels also recommends using unique passwords, enabling multifactor authentication on important accounts and keeping devices and applications updated to maintain security protections.
Older adults should avoid sharing Social Security numbers, banking credentials or passwords through unsolicited calls, emails and text messages.
The company advises families to recognize combinations of warning signs, including claims of authority, demands for immediate action and emotional appeals involving fear or sympathy.
Such tactics may be used together to discourage victims from questioning whether a request is legitimate.
“These conversations give older adults the knowledge and habits to protect themselves, recognize potential threats, pause before responding and know when and where to ask for help,” Parrish said.
Visiting Angels recommends making cybersecurity discussions a recurring part of family communication rather than limiting them to a single holiday conversation.
Regularly reviewing passwords, privacy settings, software updates and suspicious messages can help older adults maintain access to digital services while reducing exposure to fraud.
“Keeping seniors safe and secure means looking at the whole picture,” Parrish said. “That includes physical safety, emotional well-being, independence and now, increasingly, digital safety.”
The company emphasizes that families and caregivers can support older adults’ independence by helping them recognize fraudulent communications and establish practical safeguards for online shopping, financial transactions and everyday digital activities.
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