The short answer

If your parent is getting scam calls, you are not imagining the problem, and they are not foolish for picking up. Scammers call older people on purpose. The good news is that a few free steps stop a lot of it, and a short conversation stops more.

  1. Talk first. Explain how the scams work, without blame, and agree on a few simple rules.
  2. Turn on the free protections. The carrier’s spam blocking, the phone’s screening of unknown callers, the Do Not Call Registry.
  3. Pick a family code word for any call that asks for money in a family member’s name.
  4. Know what to do if money goes, because speed matters.

If your parent still answers every call, or relies on a landline, a service that answers for them is the next step. That is what we make, and we explain it at the end. Everything before that is free.

Why scammers call older parents

Older people answer the phone, are polite to callers and often have savings. Scammers know it. Americans over 60 lost $7.75 billion to fraud in 2025, up 59% in one year, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report. They filed one in five complaints but lost more than a third of the money.

The phone is where much of it starts. Across all ages, people told the FTC they lost $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, the most on record, and impersonation scams led the list. Scams that begin with a phone call have the highest median loss of any kind of contact, and the largest of those losses are reported by older adults (FTC).

Those are only the losses people report. Many never do, out of embarrassment. That is one reason the talk below matters.

The scams they will hear

The details change every month. The stories don’t:

  • The family emergency. A grandchild in jail, in hospital or in trouble abroad, who needs money now and begs them not to tell anyone. The voice may sound right: scammers can clone a voice from a short clip online.
  • The government caller. Medicare, Social Security or the IRS, with a problem only a payment or their personal details can fix.
  • The bank’s fraud department. “Your account has been compromised. Move your money to a safe account.” There is no safe account. It belongs to the scammer.
  • Tech support. A virus on the computer, a hacked account, a refund that went wrong and must be paid back.
  • The prize. A lottery or sweepstakes win, with fees or taxes to pay first.
  • The friendly stranger. A wrong number or a new friend who chats for weeks before money comes up.

What gives them away is how they want to be paid: gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or a bitcoin machine, or cash handed to a courier at the door. And they want it kept secret. Our guide to common phone scams covers each one in more detail.

The talk to have

The aim is not to scare your parent or to make them feel old. It is to make sure that when the call comes, they recognize it and they call you instead of reaching for their purse.

  • Tell a story, not a lecture. A friend’s parent, a news story, a call you got yourself. People who would bristle at a warning will listen to a story.
  • Make it about the scammers. These are professional call centers with scripts and quotas. Being targeted says nothing about your parent’s judgment.
  • Agree on a few simple rules. No real bank, agency or police officer asks for gift cards, crypto or cash pickup. Hang up and call back on a number you already know, such as the one on the back of the card. Anyone who says “don’t tell your family” is a scammer.
  • Promise not to be angry. Say it out loud: “If anything like this happens, call me. I will never be cross with you.” Shame keeps people quiet, and quiet is what scammers count on.
  • Come back to it. One talk fades. A quick “had any odd calls lately?” each week keeps the door open.

Free steps first

Turn on the carrier’s spam blocking

The big carriers block a lot of scam calls on their networks, and the basic tier is free. On T-Mobile, Scam Shield labels likely scams, and dialing #662# from the phone turns on Scam Block, which stops them before they ring. AT&T ActiveArmor blocks fraud calls automatically. Verizon Call Filter sends high-risk spam to voicemail. Check that it is switched on.

Let the phone screen strangers

On an iPhone with iOS 26, open Settings, then Apps, Phone, Screen Unknown Callers, and choose Ask Reason for Calling. The iPhone answers numbers that aren’t in their contacts and asks for a name and reason before it rings (how it works). On Android, the Phone app’s Caller ID & spam settings can filter spam calls, and Pixel phones can screen calls automatically (Google’s help).

Then sit down together and save the people who should always get through as contacts: family, doctors, the pharmacy, the neighbor who checks in. Screening leaves contacts alone. Our comparison of call blocker apps covers the paid options, and a separate guide covers scam calls on a landline.

Register with Do Not Call

Add the number at donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from it. It is free. Honest telemarketers must stop within 31 days. Scammers ignore the list, so it won’t stop scam calls, but it does make the rule simple: a sales call out of the blue is a warning sign.

Choose a family code word

A cloned voice of a crying grandchild is hard to resist. A code word makes the question simple: “What’s our word?” The FBI recommends a secret word or phrase for exactly this. Pick something that is not online, agree on it in person, and make sure the grandchildren know it too.

Put a few guards on the money

  • Account alerts. Turn on the bank’s text alerts for large withdrawals and transfers.
  • A trusted contact. Many banks and investment firms let a customer name someone they may call if they suspect fraud. It does not give that person access to the money.
  • A credit freeze. Free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It stops anyone opening new credit in your parent’s name.

If money has already gone

First, be kind. Your parent is the victim of a crime, often a skilled one, and they may be frightened and ashamed. Then move quickly: the National Elder Fraud Hotline says reporting within the first two or three days improves the chance of getting money back.

  1. Call the bank or card company now, on the number printed on the card. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and to watch the account. If it was a gift card, call the company that issued it; if it was a wire transfer, call the service used to send it.
  2. Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
  3. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov.
  4. Report it to the local police. Banks and insurers sometimes ask for the report number.
  5. Secure what the scammer saw. Change passwords. If they got a Social Security number, freeze credit and follow the steps at IdentityTheft.gov.

For anyone 60 or older, the National Elder Fraud Hotline, run for the Department of Justice, is at 1-833-372-8311 (1-833-FRAUD-11), weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. Case managers can help file the FBI and FTC reports. The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, is free to anyone, member or not. Its trained volunteers help with next steps, and with the shock.

When a family needs more

The free steps are enough for many families. They are not enough when your parent answers every call no matter what the screen says, when they use a landline, when memory is starting to slip, or when scammers have already found them once. In those cases the decision has to be taken off the phone before it rings. That is the job PhoneShield was built for.

  • Their number and phone stay the same. Call forwarding is turned on once, on their phone, and the line is answered by PhoneShield.
  • Labeled scams are refused. Calls the carrier marks Scam Likely, Spam Risk and the like are turned away, unless the caller is a favorite, a contact or has a pass.
  • Reported numbers are refused before the phone rings: numbers on the shared scam list, and numbers repeatedly reported to the FTC.
  • Strangers are asked why they are calling. Unknown and hidden numbers meet a front desk. A real reason rings through with the caller’s name.
  • Nora, a live assistant, answers callers’ questions and takes a message with name, number and reason for the family.
  • Landlines work. A forwarded landline is screened, and the calls that pass ring the PhoneShield app or a second number.
  • The family can look. You see each call and what happened to it, and PhoneShield tells you if forwarding is ever switched off.

Set it up together, with your parent’s agreement. It takes about ten minutes: start the plan, install the app, turn on forwarding on their phone. The quickstart guide walks through it. PhoneShield is $29.99 a month or $299 a year for the first line, and $19.99 a month for each further line, such as the other parent’s phone. See plans and pricing.

No service stops every scam, and we don’t claim to. Keep the code word and keep talking. PhoneShield takes most of the calls off your parent’s plate, so the ones that remain are far fewer.

Questions people ask

How do I stop scam calls to my elderly parent?

Start with a calm talk about how phone scams work, then turn on the free protections: the carrier's spam blocking, the phone's own screening of unknown callers, the Do Not Call Registry and a family code word. Save family, doctors and the pharmacy as contacts so they always ring through. If your parent still answers every call, or uses a landline, add a service that answers the calls for them.

What is the best scam call blocker for seniors?

It depends on the person. For a parent who is comfortable with a smartphone, the carrier's free blocking plus the phone's own screening of unknown callers is a good start, and it costs nothing. Those tools still leave the decision to your parent while the phone rings. For a parent who answers every call, or a landline, something that answers for them works better. PhoneShield was built for that: the family runs it, with the parent's agreement, and it works on landlines too.

Should I put my parent's number on the Do Not Call Registry?

Yes. It is free at donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222, called from the number you are registering. Honest telemarketers must stop calling within 31 days. Scammers ignore the list, so it will not stop scam calls, but once a number is registered, a sales call out of the blue is itself a warning sign.

What makes a good family code word?

A word or short phrase that a stranger could not guess or find online: not a pet's name, a street or anything posted on social media. Agree on it in person, not by text or email. If a caller claiming to be family asks for money, ask for the word. The FBI recommends exactly this because scammers can now clone a voice from a short recording.

My parent already sent money to a scammer. What should we do?

Call the bank or card company right away, using the number on the card, and ask them to stop or reverse the payment. Then report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to the FBI at ic3.gov, and to the local police. For anyone 60 or older, the National Elder Fraud Hotline (1-833-372-8311, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern) can help file those reports. Speed matters: reporting within two or three days improves the chance of getting money back.

Can I manage my parent's call protection from my own phone?

Phone settings have to be changed on their phone, and carrier blocking is managed by whoever holds the account. With PhoneShield, call forwarding is turned on once on your parent's phone, together. After that the family manages favorites, expected callers and messages from their own account, and PhoneShield tells you if forwarding is ever switched off.

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