What to Do When Your Parents Get Scammed: A Step-by-Step Guide

williamarthey2
Sep 12
2 min read

Discovering that your parents have been scammed can be heartbreaking and overwhelming. Unfortunately, older adults are frequent targets for fraudsters; whether through phone calls, emails, text messages, or even face-to-face encounters. If your mom or dad has been tricked out of money, personal information, or both, acting quickly can reduce the damage and help protect them in the future.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through what to do immediately after a scam, how to recover lost funds, and the best ways to safeguard your parents from future scams.

Step 1: Stay Calm and Supportive

The first and most important step is not to blame your parents. Scammers are highly skilled manipulators who use urgency, fear, or even affection to trick people. Shaming them will only make them feel isolated and less likely to tell you about problems in the future. Instead:

Reassure them that they are not alone.
Emphasize that many intelligent people fall for scams.
Let them know you’re on their side.

Step 2: Stop Any Ongoing Payments

If the scam involved money transfers, gift cards, or subscription-like charges, act fast:

Contact their bank or credit card provider to stop payments and flag suspicious transactions.
Call their mobile carrier if the scam involved premium-rate texts or phone charges.
Cancel any gift cards or online transactions if possible (some retailers can reverse unredeemed codes).

Time is critical, many institutions can reverse or freeze transactions if you report fraud quickly.

Step 3: Secure Their Accounts

Scammers often go after more than just money—they may also collect login details or personal information. To protect your parents:

Change passwords on email, online banking, and social media accounts.
Enable two-factor authentication where possible.
Run a virus/malware scan on their devices to ensure spyware isn’t installed.

Step 4: Report the Scam

Reporting helps authorities track scams and, in some cases, recover money:

In the U.S.: Report to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) via reportfraud.ftc.gov.
In the U.K.: Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.
Everywhere else: Check your national consumer protection agency or local police.

Also report phishing emails or texts to the relevant providers (e.g., forward suspicious texts to 7726 in the U.K. or U.S.).

Step 5: Check for Identity Theft

If your parents shared personal details like Social Security numbers, National Insurance numbers, or bank account information, they may be at risk of identity theft. Steps to take:

Place a fraud alert or credit freeze with credit bureaus.
Monitor their credit report for suspicious activity.
Consider signing them up for an identity theft protection service.

Step 6: Educate and Build Future Protection

Once the immediate crisis is handled, help your parents avoid future scams:

Teach them to slow down and verify before acting.
Encourage them to hang up on suspicious calls and ignore unknown texts.
Install call-blocking apps and spam filters on their phone and email.
Role-play scenarios so they know how to respond next time.

You can also use tools like notification monitoring services that alert you if something unusual happens on their devices - adding an extra layer of protection.