Florida Attorney General Hosts Senior Scam Seminar, Releases New Resource to Combat Grandparent Fraud

On January 15, 2025, Attorney General Ashley Moody held a Senior Scam Seminar at the On Top of the World Cultural Center in Marion County, attended by over 500 Florida seniors. The seminar focused on educating older Floridians about avoiding cybercrime, cryptocurrency schemes, financial exploitation, and emerging frauds targeting seniors.

During the event, Attorney General Moody unveiled a new resource, Scams at a Glance: Grandparent Grifts, aimed at helping seniors identify and report grandparent scams. These scams involve imposters posing as grandchildren, calling elderly individuals, and claiming to be in an emergency to solicit money.

“Today, we held a Senior Scam Seminar to educate hundreds of older Floridians about common and emerging scams. During the seminar, we released our Scams at a Glance: Grandparent Grifts. This new resource explains grandparent scams and provides tips to help older Floridians spot and avoid these imposter scams,” said Attorney General Moody.

Joining the event were Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, representatives from the State Attorney’s Office for the 5th Judicial Circuit, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Team, and members of Attorney General Moody’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit, Seniors vs Crime, and Senior Protection Teams.

Grandparent scams typically start with a call from someone pretending to be a grandchild. The scammer speaks softly or makes excuses for sounding different, claims to be in trouble, and urgently requests money while begging the victim to keep it a secret. Victims are often unable to recover funds sent to scammers.

The Scams at a Glance: Grandparent Grifts resource provides key tips, including:

• Resist the urge to act immediately and verify the claim by contacting the grandchild or family members directly.
• Avoid sending money through gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers, as these are common red flags for scams.
• Be cautious of scammers using information from social media to appear credible.
• If a scammer requests an in-person meeting for payment, hang up and contact law enforcement immediately.

The resource is part of Attorney General Moody’s ongoing efforts to protect seniors from fraud and exploitation in Florida.

To view Scams at a Glance: Grandparent Grifts, click here. To view the resource in Spanish, click here. 

To learn more about other types of scams, visit the Scams at a Glance homepage. 

Since taking office in 2019, Attorney General Moody has secured: 

• Nearly $700 million in Consumer Protection recoveries, including relief and restitution;
• More than $9.5 million in Senior Protection Team recoveries; and
• More than $5.75 million in realized gains through the Seniors vs. Crime team thanks to Senior Sleuths volunteering more than 107,000 hours.