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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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Nicolas Cage admitted he turned down the opportunity to appear in two big franchise films in order to play roles he felt better suited his desires at the time.
During a recent interview with Complex News, the 62-year-old actor reflected on his career choices, saying there were two instances when he had to decide between two roles, which led him to turn down parts in two franchises.
“One was when Jim Carrey wanted me to do ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and I said I’d rather do ‘Leaving Las Vegas,’ and the other was ‘Spider-Man’ as the Green Goblin and I said I’d rather do ‘Adaptation,'” he said. “Both those choices gave me more to do as an actor.”
Jeff Daniels went on to star as Harry Dunne in “Dumb and Dumber” and its 2014 sequel, “Dumb and Dumber To.” The role of the Green Goblin in “Spider-Man” ultimately went to Willem Dafoe, who played the character again in the film’s two sequels in 2004 and 2007, and once more in the 2021 movie, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
JIM CARREY TOOK BREAK FROM HOLLYWOOD TO GET ‘OUT OF PEOPLE’S FACES’
While he missed out on appearing in the two franchises, Cage noted that he “chose what I thought was better for me at that time,” adding, “I think I made the right choice.”
“To play twins in a movie was a big challenge and daunting and I don’t know if I could do it again. It was a lot,” he added. “And to play Ben, that script just sang to me. So I would have done it had those other opportunities not been on the table, but in this case.”
He starred in “Leaving Las Vegas” in 1995, playing alcoholic screenwriter Ben, who begins an unconventional relationship with a sex worker in Las Vegas. The role earned him an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award win.
His work in the 2002 movie, “Adaptation,” playing twin brothers Charlie and Donald earned him his second Academy Award and fourth Golden Globe Award nomination.
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While discussing what it was like preparing for his role in the 2024 movie, “The Surfer,” Cage told Entertainment Weekly he “got pounded to smithereens” while practicing his surfing skills.
“I just got pounded and literally got stuck in the rip tide, and they said they saw my board, they call it ‘tombstone,’ like that triangle top,” he said. “I’m climbing up the leash as I’m somersaulting, and I could have died…Now I have a young kid, I don’t know if I want to do it anymore.”
Cage has three children with three different women, including Weston, 35, who he shares with actress Christina Fulton; Kal-El, 20, who he shares with his third wife, Alice Kim; and August Francesca, 3, who he shares with his current wife, Riko Shibata.
The actor spoke in the past about how his relationship with his children has always been his number one priority, sharing that he turned down roles in two major blockbuster franchises to be closer to his kids.
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“First and foremost … there’s no version of Nick Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children,” he told People in April 2022. “There’s no version of Nick Cage that didn’t put family first over career.”
He continued: “I turned down ‘Lord of the Rings‘ and I turned down ‘Matrix’ because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”
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Kelsea Ballerini stuns in sheer metallic dress that leaves little to the imagination in new photos
Kelsea Ballerini wowed fans with her latest metallic sheer look.
In a recent Instagram post, the 32-year-old country singer shared a series of photos showing fans what she’s been up to, captioning the post, “all the things all the time!”
The slideshow included pictures of her in the studio, traveling with friends, seeing a Broadway show and eating “hot girl pickles,” but one picture stood out among the rest.
One of the photos featured Ballerini in a long-sleeve sheer metallic dress with web-like patterns, which left her dark-colored bra and high-waisted underwear visible.
JENNIFER LOPEZ, KELSEA BALLERINI, RENÉE ZELLWEGER STUN IN LACE, SHEER AND CUT-OUTS: PHOTOS
She paired the dress with a soft makeup look and styled her hair in a half-up/half-down look.
“Alll the studio pics – can’t wait to hear what you are creating,” one fan wrote in the comments section. Another added, “look at you glowing.”
Ballerini previously fueled speculation she was working on new music when she posted a text exchange between herself and Patrick Droney, which featured an audio file titled, “Math of Us,” with both Ballerini and Patrick saying they are “so happy” with it.
The singer’s most recent full-length album was released in October 2024, and featured many big hits, such as “Cowboys Cry Too” and “Baggage.” A deluxe addition of the album was released in March 2025.
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She made news earlier this year when she and Chase Stokes broke up for a second time. They initially broke up in September 2025, before rekindling their romance and then officially calling it quits in February.
“They still love each other, which is why they’ve kept trying to make it work,” another insider told People at the time. “But their lives are in very different places right now. Figuring out where to live and how to truly merge their lives has been hard lately. It’s been something they’ve gone back and forth on,” the source claimed.
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“Kelsea’s been so supportive of him throughout their relationship, but it hasn’t been reciprocated, especially as her career has continued to grow,” another source told the outlet. “It feels like there’s insecurity there on his end.”
Fans of the singer lit up social media when she fueled cheating rumors in the comments section of Ashley Cooke’s video featuring an unreleased song about a man with “wandering eyes.”
Ballerini commented, “Mmmhhhmmm,” and Cooke responded, “You get it.”
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Manhunt underway for suspect after Virginia deputy killed, another injured in ambush; $10K reward offered
A massive, coordinated manhunt is underway in Virginia for an “armed and extremely dangerous” suspect who allegedly ambushed two deputies during a welfare check Friday night, killing a military veteran and injuring a second officer.
Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputy Logan Utt, 31, was killed in the attack, according to Carroll County Sheriff Kevin Kemp.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $10,000 reward for suspect Michael Puckett.
The deadly encounter unfolded just before 9:30 p.m. local time, when the two Carroll County deputies were dispatched to a home after a family member requested a welfare check.
When the deputies met with Puckett, he allegedly opened fire, killing Utt and wounding the second officer — whose life was saved by his ballistic vest, according to authorities.
The deputies returned fire, but Puckett fled the scene and remains at large.
SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY GUNS DOWN DEPUTY IN AMBUSH DURING ROUTINE CALL THAT ROCKED QUIET TOWN, POLICE SAY
The sheriff’s office warned the public not to approach him and call 911 immediately if he is spotted.
Utt joined the force in 2023 after serving the nation as a military veteran.
“Becoming a deputy sheriff was a lifelong dream, and he worked every day to make Carroll County a safer place,” Kemp wrote in a statement Saturday. “Today, Carroll County has lost a hero, and a family has suffered an unimaginable loss.”
TWO VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE OFFICERS SHOT DEAD WHILE ‘DEFENSELESS’ DURING LATE-NIGHT TRAFFIC STOP
Utt leaves behind a wife and children. The wounded deputy is recovering in stable condition.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger confirmed her office is closely monitoring the situation, urging anyone with information on Puckett’s whereabouts to come forward.
“Deputy Logan Utt’s sacrifice is a testament to his bravery and dedication to his community,” Spanberger wrote in a statement on X. “Adam and I are praying for Deputy Utt’s family, the injured officer during his recovery, and for the safety of all of our courageous men and women in law enforcement.”
Virginia State Police is leading the investigation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Kelsea Ballerini stuns in sheer metallic dress that leaves little to the imagination in new photos
Nicolas Cage turned down parts in two big franchise movies for roles he thought were better
Manhunt underway for suspect after Virginia deputy killed, another injured in ambush; $10K reward offered
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