Scams have become alarmingly common nowadays, and Massachusetts wants residents to be on alert.
The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations hosts community events across the state to help educate consumers on the latest scams. According to the FBI, older Americans lost nearly $5 billion due to fraud last year.
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WATCH HERE"Fraud doesn't care who you are, how much money you make, where you come from," said Robin Putnam, OCABR's events and outreach manager. "It impacts everybody. It's not any one specific demographic."
Some of the common tactics criminals use to steal from their victims range from tech support scams to romance scams to cryptocurrency scams.
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SIGN UP "I think if you can practice some simple things – changing your passwords more often, doing two-factor authentication," Putnam explained. "Don't answer the phone if you don't recognize the number that's popping up, don't give personal information to anybody calling you unless you've called them."
During the busy summer season, Putnam recommends consumers take extra precautions protecting their personal and financial information.
"People are going to come to visit downtown Boston. They're [scammers] going to go to the cake," said Putnam. "They're going to go wherever tourists flock. So that's when you will probably see a little bit of an uptick in credit card skimming devices, because the scammers know you're coming from out of the country, you're coming from a different state."
OCABR also has a consumer hotline residents can call if they need to report a scam or just need some guidance.
"I think it's important to talk about it. If you think something looks really odd, ask a friend. Come to the senior center and ask someone here. It's just important to have a dialogue, because so many people feel ashamed or scared to even talk about it," said Putnam. "We don't have all the answers, but I'll find you the right phone number."
Residents can reach their consumer hotline by calling 617-973-8787.
