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Your senior parents are easier to impersonate than you are
Americans 60 and older filed 201,266 complaints with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025 and reported $7.7 billion in losses, the highest total of any age group. The average loss for older victims was nearly $38,500, almost double the figure for younger filers. The Federal Trade Commission’s December 2025 report to Congress estimated that the overall cost of fraud to older adults in 2024 ranged from $10.1 billion to $81.5 billion, depending on how underreporting is measured.
Two decades of breach dumps now sit between your parents and the systems still verifying them by date of birth, mailing address and the last four of a Social Security number. The same fields clear a bank’s call center, and they’re enough to register a Medicare account that your parents haven’t claimed online. Locking those checks down has fallen to the adult children. Most of it is an afternoon’s work.
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YOU HAVE A CREDIT FREEZE. IT STILL ISN’T ENOUGH
Older parents hold accounts at more institutions than their adult children do: banks, brokerages, Medicare, Social Security, pension administrators and mortgage holders. Each has its own verification process. A scammer who clears one of them finds a larger balance waiting on the other side.
Combined losses reported by older adults who lost more than $100,000 climbed from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024, an eightfold jump according to the FTC.
AI voice cloning has made phone calls one more verification step a scammer can clear. The FBI counted $893 million in AI-related scam losses in 2025, with victims 60 and over accounting for $352 million. A few seconds of public audio, whether from a voicemail greeting, a church livestream or a TikTok comment, is enough to recreate a grandchild’s voice on a phone call to a parent.
Before you start locking anything down, sit down with your parent and make sure they understand each step. The goal is to help them stay protected, not take control away from them.
All four steps below run through the credit bureaus, the IRS or USPS. Each is free and takes under fifteen minutes.
A credit freeze blocks new credit applications. An IP PIN blocks fraudulent tax returns. Neither keeps an eye on credit files after the fact, so consider adding credit monitoring for all three bureaus. Alerts can help your family spot suspicious activity faster and decide which account to lock down first.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
Pre-register a my Social Security account at ssa.gov in their name. Do the same at MyMedicare.gov if they qualify. Once those accounts exist, no one else can open them using their SSN. State Medicaid portals work the same way.
Also, help them turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for important accounts and store passwords in a trusted password manager. Reused passwords make it easier for scammers to move from one exposed account to another.
Medicare Summary Notices arrive quarterly when there are covered services. Read each one with your parents for charges they don’t recognize. The Senior Medicare Patrol, a federally funded program in every state, will walk through suspicious billing with families at no charge.
In a Medi-Cal hospice case charged this April in California, prosecutors said operators bought SSNs from breach dumps and enrolled non-California residents as terminally ill hospice patients, then billed the state for visits that never happened. The fraud first appeared in beneficiary statements.
Credit monitoring can also help spot signs that personal information has already surfaced online. Some services scan the dark web, data broker sites and people-search sites for Social Security numbers, addresses, driver’s license numbers and other identifiers. Alerts can show what was found and where, helping you decide which account to lock down first.
None of the protections above stops a phone call. Two small habits can help.
A financial power of attorney signed in advance authorizes an adult child to handle bills, disputes and account changes on a parent’s behalf. With one in hand, the day-one fraud response can run without the parent on every call: pull all three credit reports, file at IdentityTheft.gov, place fraud alerts at each bureau and contact the affected creditor in writing.
Some identity theft protection services also include fraud resolution support. A specialist may help work with credit bureaus, creditors and collection agencies if someone misuses your information. Some plans also include identity theft insurance for eligible recovery costs and family coverage that can extend monitoring and support to parents in another household.
No service prevents every misuse of an older adult’s identity. The settings above shorten the time between when fraud happens and when someone in the family acts on it.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at CyberGuy.com.
Your phone holds your email, passwords, photos, banking apps and personal data. In this free, live online class, Kurt the CyberGuy will walk you step by step through simple phone security fixes you can do in real time. You’ll learn how to improve your privacy settings, spot the latest phone scams, use trusted security tools and walk away with a simple checklist to stay protected. Register here: CyberGuyLive.com
Protecting an older parent’s identity does not require a tech overhaul. It starts with a few smart moves: freeze their credit, claim key government accounts, set up an IRS IP PIN and agree on a family code word for suspicious calls. These steps can make it much harder for scammers to use stolen personal information before anyone notices. The bigger issue is that many systems still rely on information criminals may already have, such as birthdays, addresses and partial Social Security numbers. That puts more pressure on families to act early, monitor accounts and respond fast when something looks wrong. A little preparation now can save your parents from months of stress, financial damage and paperwork later.
Have you or an older loved one dealt with identity theft, Medicare fraud or a suspicious phone call that sounded real? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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Chris Richards won’t travel for USMNT friendly as ankle injury clouds World Cup preparations for breakout star
The United States’ men’s national team already has a major injury question mark before the 2026 FIFA World Cup even kicks off.
Chris Richards, the 26-year-old who many believe is the best defender on the USMNT heading into the tournament, won’t be traveling for the team’s international friendly against Senegal on Sunday.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino said that Richards is dealing with an ankle injury that has kept him out of Crystal Palace’s last two matches of the season. And even worse for fans, there’s currently no public timetable for his return.
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“I think he needs to keep doing his rehab,” Pochettino said, per the New York Post. “I think it’s much better to stay here and plan to train and [see] next week how it is.”
The “here” Pochettino speaks of is the USMNT training facility in Atlanta, which is where Richards is staying while his teammates head to Charlotte, North Carolina, for their matchup with Senegal.
DIEGO LUNA, WHO WAS IN NIKE’S WORLD CUP PROMOTIONAL ADS, SHOCKINGLY LEFT OFF USMNT ROSTER
Richards also wasn’t present for the team’s 26-man roster reveal in New York City last week, sending a video message instead as he stayed with Crystal Palace for its European final match in Germany. He didn’t play in the match despite being available as a sub.
Richards has yet to train with the USMNT, and Pochettino didn’t appear too optimistic he would be ready for the team’s first match against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles.
“I was asking from yesterday when he arrived to [assistant coach] Jesús [Pérez] 100 times, ‘What do you think, what do you think, which formation we have'” Pochettino explained. “Wait, wait, wait, wait. The answer was ‘Wait, wait, wait.’ It’s too early. We need to see. The next few days are going to be key to see the possibilities to be ready or not for the World Cup.”
While it’s not expected Richards will be taken off the roster, FIFA requires all 48 teams to finalize their 26-man squads by June. Teams can still make injury-related roster changes up to 24 hours before their first match.
The USMNT will try to get their chemistry and technical skills in check against Senegal, while also facing Germany in a pre-World Cup friendly before heading to Los Angeles for the start of their Group D schedule.
After Paraguay, the U.S. will have Australia in Seattle on June 19, followed by Türkiye in their final group stage match on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
But a significant question mark remains at one of the most important positions on the field for the USMNT: center back. Richards is a natural fit there, but the depth behind him is far less convincing, even after Pochettino sacrificed some attacking options to bolster the defense on his roster.
Richards was expected to start every match for the U.S. even before the roster was finalized, so it will be interesting to see how his injury progresses closer to the first match on June 12.
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Morgan Wallen couldn’t get over his frustration while on stage at a recent show.
In a fan-captured video obtained by Fox News Digital, the 33-year-old musician is seen getting frustrated when his equipment seemingly malfunctions in the middle of his performance of “Sand In My Boots.”
After he finishes singing the song, Wallen walks over to the piano and pushes it over, breaking it.
“While playing ‘sand in my boots’ Morgan gets off the piano cause it isn’t [working] as it should,” the video’s caption on TikTok reads. “He finishes acapella then proceeds to push the piano over, breaking it!”
Wallen was performing in Denver as part of his “Still The Problem Tour,” which kicked off in April in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
WATCH: MORGAN WALLEN PUSHES OVER A PIANO AFTER GETTING FRUSTRATED ON STAGE
During his tour stop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, country singer Ella Langley stepped on stage as Wallen’s opening act, and later joined him on stage to perform their new duet, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” a decision which sparked backlash from fans online who accused them of being “MAGA.”
“Now that she’s collabing with Morgan Wallen we can assume she’s MAGA so wdc [what the crap],” wrote one X user.
“She’s friends with and collabing with Morgan Wallen. A known racist and maga,” another social media user commented, while a third added, “Hitler and Stalin announce collab.”
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Other fans came to her defense, with one writing, “Who cares bama girl on top.”
“I’m so sick of people politicizing f—ing everything,” another chimed in. “Can we just enjoy a collab between two solid country artists without everyone f—ing crying about it, PLEASE?!”
The incident with the piano is far from Wallen’s first unsavory experience on stage. In an interview with Billboard News in March, singer Nate Smith shared that he once threw a drink in Wallen’s face when they were on stage together.
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He explained that he “was trying to be funny, and it wasn’t funny,” admitting Wallen “should have kicked me off the tour,” but instead the two of them laughed about it together on FaceTime later.
“He’s a very forgiving person. He has a lot of grace. He’s a good man,” Smith said. “He’s a good man. He’s a great guy. Literally a whole cup. A whole cup. I thought I was the funniest guy in the world.”
He explained that, after apologizing, Wallen said he understood, telling him, “Man, I probably would have done the same thing, or I’ve done the same thing.”
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Donald Trump shouts out Jaxson Dart after Giants QB’s appearance at event was met with controversy
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart hopping on stage to introduce President Donald Trump, and his teammate Abdul Carter calling him out for it, has been the talk of the sports world this week.
Everyone has given their take on it, and the two players at the center of it all have worked things out, and it doesn’t seem like there’s some schism in the team’s locker room.
However, President Trump is firmly on Jaxson Dart’s side, as you might expect.
In fact, he’s all in on Jaxson Dart, the WINNER.
TRUMP BACKS GIANTS QB JAXSON DART AFTER RALLY APPEARANCE BACKLASH, SAYS ‘HE’S ALSO LOVED MORE’
“Thank you Jaxson! It was great being with you,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I know you’re taking some heat from the Radical Left Lunatics who are jealous of you, me, and everyone who surrounds us but, I also know that your Jersey also went to Number One, and you’re making Millions of Dollars so, YOU ARE A WINNER — THEY ARE ALL LOSERS.”
I can never get enough of the president’s writing. There’s just never been anything like it.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the wild capitalization?
“Radical Left Lunatics” and “Number One” I kind of get because he’s almost using them like titles, while “Jersey” reeks of auto-correct. But it would’ve never occurred to me to capitalize “Millions of Dollars,” but that’s probably because I’ve never encountered that in my own life.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Maybe your perspective on it changes when you rake in a cool million… I mean Million.
But man, what a post.
Just when you think this whole “controversy” is cooling off, here comes the president to take a leaf blower ot the smoldering coals.
So, now, we’ll see if there’s any more that comes of this now that President Trump has put the ball back in the Losers’ court.
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Donald Trump shouts out Jaxson Dart after Giants QB’s appearance at event was met with controversy
Morgan Wallen smashes piano on stage after equipment fails mid-performance during concert
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