Nicole Mason and Antonio Espinoza provide advice on how not to fall prey to scammers. / Alex Svenson photos
Recent losses just to senior citizens highest in years — and almost surely higher even than reported
Many millions of dollars have been lost due to scams just in Massachusetts in a sole recent year — and senior citizens as a demographic tend to be the most vulnerable target.
So say experts diligently working to combat the problem and to educate the public on how to recognize and avoid becoming victims, including at a presentation recently at Arlington’s community center, which houses organizations devoted to programming for older residents.
Scams, frauds and other illegal schemes have been in the news locally in recent months, as evidenced by this website’s weekly “blotter column” (on July 29, someone outwitted his would-be predator).
A quick review of selected incidents reported to the Arlington Police Department shows an average of two scams a week having been reported throughout the past two months; see YourArlington’s “Latest Notices” column at top right of website for these recent “blotter” column entries.
Last month, representatives of the Securities Division and Corporations Division of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office spoke to inform local residents about the ongoing risks of scams across the state. At least the third such local program in recent history taking place at the Arlington Senior Center, the July 23 event lasted about 90 minutes. The host was the Arlington Council on Aging, and about 30 people attended.
Securities division, corporations division
Presenting not only facts, but also a fun, educational “fraud bingo” game, were Antonio Espinoza, a registration, inspections, compliance and examinations attorney from the state securities division, and Nicole Mason, a clerk from the corporations division.
Espinoza and Mason started off the event by explaining how the secretary of the commonwealth’s office can help residents dealing with scams perpetrated upon them and also how to prevent scams from succeeding in the future.
“We are able to offer assistance in many different ways, but one of the main ways that we assist people [with scams] is having them come speak with us about their individual complaints and what they specifically need help with,” Espinoza said.
“We have a large team of attorneys available on the phone every day. If we have that information, we are able to launch an investigation into their matter, and then we can send subpoenas, send inquiry letters and conduct on-the-record testimonies with individuals. These steps are taken in order to pursue a resolution to these violations.”
Espinoza said his office works to inform residents about the risks of scams, tries to prevent future scams and helps residents who have fallen victim get their money back.
“Most of the time these violations result in fines for these bad actors, and our office has a big emphasis on restitution, so we try to get the money back in the investor’s or individual’s hands that have lost them, been defrauded, misled or whatever it may be,” he said.
Massachusetts seniors lost $70 million to scammers in 2022
Following Espinoza and Mason’s formal lecture, the crowd engaged in a game of Fraud Bingo; each space on the board represented a fact or statistic about a type of scam. These included high-pressure sales tactics, romance scams, grandparent scams, tech-support fraud and more.
According to a report from cybersecurity website VPNPro released earlier this year, Massachusetts residents over the age of 60 lost over $70 million to scammers just in 2022. 
And it gets worse.“The amount of money lost to scammers is likely much higher than we have seen,” Espinoza said. “This is because people often do not report to us when they have fallen victim to a scam, out of embarrassment.” He noted that for scams not specifically targeting investments, it is best to first reach out to the state attorney general and of course the local police, so that they can warn others of the threat.
Investment scams, sales scams, social-media scams and “grandparent scams” were among the most prevalent types of scams targeting senior citizens in recent years. “One of the most common scams targeted at senior citizens is the so-called ‘grandparent scam,’ in which someone pretends to be a grandchild, niece, nephew or other family member in need of urgent help,” said Debra O’Malley, communications director for the comnewsonwealth secretary.
Another ploy has been in the news nationwide recently — an ugly practice with an equally ugly name — “pig butchering.”
COA prioritizes educational events
According to the Council on Aging, this is the third such event in recent memory offered at the community center to help educate about the risks.
“We have been offering as much information as we can to our older adults in Arlington to educate them on the latest scams,” Council of Aging Executive Director Kristine Shah said. “Unfortunately, older adults are targeted often and [frequently] fall victim to scams, so the more education we can provide, the better.”
Past events included a presentation by a Watertown Savings Bank fraud officer as well as one by Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan. Also, “We have offered an annual educational program through the Arlington Police Department each year [in which] their detectives come and share the latest information regarding scams they are seeing in Arlington,” Shah said.
Aug. 23, 2023: Town, county, state leaders share warnings about recent surge in phone scams
This news feature with photos by YourArlington freelancer Alex Svenson was published Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.
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