If you’ve ever answered your phone or received a specific voicemail that threatened you with legal action for ghostly overpayments of Social Security, or requested you pay them in an unusual manner, congratulations!

You’ve just had a brush with a scammer! As you well know, scams are growing businesses for those criminals who like to believe they can get rich from lying to retirees.
And unfortunately, most of the time they work.

According to Kerry Sherin, a consumer advocate at BeenVerified, the Federal Trade Commission has tracked over $1.5 billion in fraudulent scams losses only in 2021. If you want to make sure you’re not one of these future victims, here are some tips to consider from experts: