Protecting a Parent From Financial Scams and Fraud in Central Ohio

The calls don't stop coming, and they're getting harder to spot. A practical look at the scams actually hitting central Ohio seniors, and what to do in the first hours after one gets through.

By Ray Kessler, Certified Senior Advisor & Family Consultant · Published August 26, 2026

It's Not a Rare Event Anymore

Every family we talk to eventually asks some version of the same question: is this actually happening as much as it seems, or are we just noticing it more? The honest answer is both. Older adults are disproportionately targeted by financial fraud, in part because scammers have learned that a landline listing, a public obituary for a spouse, or a name on a church directory is enough to build a convincing pretext. The Ohio Attorney General's office and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) both publish year-over-year increases in reported losses from adults over 60, and law enforcement in Franklin County will tell you privately that the true number is higher still, since a meaningful share of victims never report what happened out of embarrassment. None of this means a parent is careless or naive — it means the schemes have gotten more sophisticated, and the volume of contact attempts has gone up.

The Grandparent Scam

This remains one of the most emotionally effective scams because it's built entirely around urgency and love, not greed. A caller — sometimes using a cloned or AI-altered voice that genuinely sounds like a grandchild — claims to be in trouble: a car accident, a DUI arrest, an emergency that requires bail or medical payment right now, and specifically asks the grandparent not to tell the parents. A second caller often follows, posing as a lawyer or bail bondsman, adding pressure and legitimacy. The request almost always involves wiring money, buying gift cards and reading off the numbers, or arranging a cash pickup through a courier — payment methods a real bail bondsman or hospital would never actually require. The single most effective defense is a family code word agreed on in advance, something a scammer couldn't guess, that gets asked for any time a "family emergency" call comes in asking for money.

Tech-Support and "Your Computer Is Infected" Scams

A pop-up appears on a home computer with a loud warning sound claiming a virus has been detected, along with a phone number to call "Microsoft support" or "Apple support" immediately. Or the call comes first, unsolicited, from someone claiming to already be monitoring a security breach on the victim's account. Either way, the goal is the same: get the victim to install remote-access software, then either steal banking information directly through that access or convince the victim to pay hundreds of dollars for fake "repair" services. Legitimate tech companies do not proactively call customers about virus detections, and a real computer problem should always be taken to a trusted local repair shop rather than a number displayed in a pop-up. If remote-access software was already installed, the safest move is disconnecting the computer from the internet and having it professionally checked before logging into anything financial from it again.

Medicare, Insurance, and Government-Impersonation Calls

Open enrollment season and any period around Medicare card reissues tend to bring a spike in calls impersonating Medicare, Social Security, or the IRS, asking to "verify" a Social Security number, bank account, or Medicare number over the phone. None of these agencies call unsolicited to request that information — legitimate communication from Medicare comes by mail. A related and increasingly common version involves someone offering a "free" genetic test, back brace, or diabetic device in exchange for a Medicare number, which is actually billing fraud that can affect a beneficiary's real coverage later. Ohio's Senior Medicare Patrol program (part of the Ohio Department of Insurance) exists specifically to take reports of this kind and can help sort out billing fraud that's already occurred on a parent's Medicare account.

Romance Scams and the Isolated Widow or Widower

A relationship built entirely online or by phone, with a partner who has a plausible reason never to meet in person — deployed overseas, working an offshore oil rig, traveling for an international business deal — and who eventually needs money for a medical emergency, a stuck shipment, or a plane ticket to finally meet. These scams disproportionately target recently widowed or divorced seniors precisely because loneliness is real and the emotional connection, even if built on a fabricated identity, can feel genuine to the victim. Confronting a parent directly about a romance scam often backfires because it feels like an attack on something that matters to them; a gentler approach is asking to see a photo and doing a reverse image search together, which frequently turns up the same photo attached to a different name.

Warning Signs a Parent May Already Be a Target

Unusual bank withdrawals, especially in round numbers or repeated smaller amounts just under a bank's reporting threshold; new "friends" who call frequently and discourage contact with family; sudden secretiveness about mail, phone calls, or finances that didn't exist before; unopened mail from gift card retailers or wire-transfer services; a parent who becomes defensive or evasive when asked simple questions about a purchase or a new relationship. Any one of these alone isn't necessarily a scam, but a cluster of them showing up together is worth a direct, non-accusatory conversation sooner rather than later.

What to Do in the First Hours After Money Was Sent

Speed matters more than almost anything else here. For a wire transfer, call the sending bank immediately and ask them to attempt a recall — some banks can intercept a transfer within the first 24 to 48 hours, though success isn't guaranteed once the receiving bank has released the funds. For gift cards, call the issuing retailer's fraud line right away with the card numbers still on the receipt; a portion of unredeemed balances have been recovered this way if the report comes in fast. For any payment made by ACH or debit card, dispute the charge with the bank and file a police report — Franklin County law enforcement and the Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section (800-282-0515) both take these reports and can sometimes coordinate across cases that share a pattern. Filing a report with the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov also feeds into broader investigations, even when an individual case can't be resolved.

Setting Up Safeguards Without Taking Over

The families who handle this best tend to frame safeguards as something a parent is choosing for their own protection, not something being imposed on them. Practical, non-invasive steps include registering a home and cell number with the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov), adding a trusted contact person to a bank account (a formal designation the bank can call if it suspects exploitation, without giving that person account access), turning on text alerts for any withdrawal or transfer over a set amount, and using a call-blocking app or the carrier's built-in spam-filtering service. None of these require taking away a parent's independence or access to their own money — they're closer to a smoke detector than a lock on the door, and most parents are receptive to that framing once it's offered as a partnership rather than a correction.

When It's More Than a One-Time Incident

Most families deal with an attempted scam at some point and it stays a one-time scare. But if a parent has been targeted repeatedly, can't recall the details of a recent financial decision, or hears an explanation of how a scam worked and still doesn't fully register the risk, that pattern is usually pointing at something bigger than any single phone call. It's worth raising with a primary care doctor, since financial judgment can be an early, quiet indicator of cognitive change well before other signs show up — and depending on what's actually going on, it may be time to look at whether a parent living alone still matches the level of oversight and support they need.

Where to Start This Week

Pick one afternoon to sit down together: register both home and cell numbers with the Do Not Call Registry, agree on a family code word for any "emergency" call asking for money, call the bank to ask about adding a trusted contact, and save the Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection line (800-282-0515) and the local police non-emergency number somewhere visible, like a card by the phone. None of these steps take more than a few minutes individually, and together they close off the openings most of these scams depend on.

Frequently Asked Questions