Cybersecurity & Elder Fraud: Cautionary Tales from Real Victims

April 29, 2026

Are You Ready for the New Generation of Cyberthreats?

Criminals fool increasing numbers of victims every year despite increased consumer vigilance and heightened cybersecurity efforts. How is this happening and what do you need to be ready for?

Cyberthreats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and more difficult to detect. Yesterday’s public wifi hacks and phishing emails have been replaced by brazen, up close and personal tactics. Fraudsters exploit trust, relationships, and emotion — giving them the ability to manipulate their victims. According to the FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Complaint Center report, Americans over 60 lost $4.9 billion to fraud last year alone — a 43% increase over the prior year. Those are only the cases that get reported. The real number is almost certainly much higher. Moreover, the 2024 report found that total internet crime losses across Americans of all ages exceeded $16.6 billion; a 33% increase from 2023. These are staggering numbers. Here’s how it unfolds.

“It Sounded Exactly Like My Son”

Charles Latkoff, a 71-year-old retiree in Houston, received a phone call that no parent could ignore. The voice on the other end belonged to his son — or so he believed. It was shaking, panicked, and desperate. The caller claimed he’d been arrested after a DUI, that he’d struck a pregnant woman, and that he needed his father’s help immediately. He begged Latkoff not to tell anyone.

Moments later, a second person joined the call, introducing himself as a public defender from the Harris County office. He was composed and professional, citing a bail amount of $15,000 and providing wiring instructions along with a case reference number. He told Latkoff to send the funds through a Coinme machine — a kiosk used for exchanging cryptocurrency — which in hindsight should have been a clear warning sign. But in the heat of the moment, with his son’s voice still ringing in his ears, Latkoff followed the instructions without hesitation.

It was only after the scammers came back asking for more money that Latkoff grew suspicious. He called the Public Defender’s Office directly, gave them the name of the attorney he’d spoken with — and was told the man didn’t exist. The realization hit: his son had never called. The voice had been generated by artificial intelligence, cloned from just a few seconds of audio pulled from a public social media video. The “attorney” was part of the scheme, designed to keep the pressure high and the window for doubt small.

As Latkoff later explained, the voice didn’t just sound like his son — it captured the emotion of the situation. The panic, the urgency, the parental instinct to act first and ask questions later. That’s what made it so effective, and that’s what makes this new generation of AI-driven scams so dangerous.

Source: FOX 26 Houston, 2025 – https://www.fox26houston.com/news/houston-ai-scam-voice-clone

“All I Can Do Is Warn Other People”

Not every scam starts with a phone call. Phyllis Weisberg, 90 years old and comfortable with everyday technology, was using her computer when a pop-up appeared claiming to be from Microsoft’s security department. The message warned that her system had been compromised and provided a phone number to call right away.

The person she reached was calm, authoritative, and convincing. He told her that hackers were actively accessing her bank accounts and that she needed to act immediately to protect her money. Then came the move that makes these scams particularly effective: he instructed Phyllis not to discuss the situation with anyone, claiming the “bad guys” could be listening in on her phone conversations. That single instruction — the isolation play — cut her off from the people who might have helped her see what was really happening.

Under their direction, Phyllis wired $20,000. The scammers even coached her on what to say at the bank, providing scripted responses to the questions a teller would typically ask. By the time she understood what had happened, the money was gone. Reflecting on the experience, Phyllis said her first reaction was overwhelming embarrassment — that she could have fallen for something like this. But rather than stay silent, she chose to speak out, hoping her story might stop even one person from making the same mistake.

Source: National Council on Aging / Avast, 2023 – https://www.ncoa.org/article/phyllis-weisberg-a-tech-support-scam-victims-story/

Many fraud victims stay quiet due to the embarrassment they feel. However, it’s important to realize this can happen to anyone due to the sophistication of the fraudsters’ reality-blurring tactics. The strongest defense against these threats is awareness, but there are also steps you can take to help prevent one of these crimes from happening to you.

What You and Your Family Can Do

Here are practical steps for combating the new generation of cybercriminals. These are great for older adults and their families:

For Older Adults

• Trust your instincts. If something feels off — an unexpected call, an urgent financial request, a new online relationship that moves quickly — pause before acting. Call us first.
• Never grant remote access to your computer based on an unsolicited call or pop-up. Legitimate companies, like banks, don’t operate this way.
• Verify before you send. If someone claims to be a family member in distress, hang up and call that person directly on a number you know.
• Establish a family code word — a phrase only your family knows — that can be used to verify identity in an emergency call.

For Adult Children

• Set up transaction alerts on financial accounts so unusual activity is flagged in real time.
• Limit social media exposure. The less audio and video of family members publicly available, the harder it is for scammers to clone a voice.

For Everyone

• Use two-factor authentication on all financial accounts.
• Designate a trusted contact on your investment accounts.
• Know where to report fraud: FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

How HMA Can Help

At HMA, we diligently monitor your account activity on a daily basis. One of the most valuable aspects of working with a dedicated financial advisor is that someone who knows you — your goals, your patterns, your family — is paying attention.

If something doesn’t look right, we’ll reach out. If you receive a suspicious request, we want you to call us. No question is too small, and no concern is too minor.

The threats described in this post are real — but so is the protection that comes from working with people who genuinely care about your family’s financial security.