FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — You may think you’re too savvy to fall for a con, but a new survey is showcasing how sophisticated scams have become.<\/p>\n
“It’s not just an older adult problem, with 87% of us understanding that fraud can happen to anyone,” says Kathy Stokes with AARP. “We asked people 18 and over whether or not they’ve ever experienced financial loss, money stolen or identity stolen and misused, and four in 10 of us have.”<\/p>\n
The new AARP research also found 22% of adults still answer calls from unknown numbers at least half the time, and 12% respond to texts from numbers they don’t recognize.<\/p>\n
These are both common entry points for fraud.<\/p>\n
“You should be able to be safe clicking on a link from an e-mail or meeting somebody online, but we just can’t,” Stokes said. “We have to realize that these incoming communications are right now risky for us.”<\/p>\n
But how bad is the problem?<\/p>\n
“The Federal Trade Commission came out with a report in December that suggests that money stolen in a single year, 2024, could have been $196 billion,” Stokes said.<\/p>\n
Many who fall victim are too afraid or embarrassed to report the fraud.<\/p>\n
“Five years ago, four years ago, we used to just assume this only happened to older people and it was because of cognitive decline or because of not being tech savvy,” Stokes said. “We can now say that people understand that that’s not the case, and we need to be doing something more about it.”<\/p>\n
Despite awareness, many everyday behaviors can leave you vulnerable.<\/p>\n
If you get an urgent text or email from a company you have an account with, rather than call the number or click a link, take the intentional step of checking your own account records to see if there’s an issue.<\/p>\n
Stokes went on to say it’s time to change the way we think about scams — don’t consider the topic taboo.<\/p>\n
AARP has resources available<\/a> for people if they think they’ve been scammed, or if they want to prevent getting scammed.<\/p>\n There is also a free phone line to call at 877-908-3360.<\/p>\n For news updates, follow Vanessa Vasconcelos on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n