Avoiding Scams / Scam Calls Targeting Seniors
How to recognize a scam call targeting seniors
Phone calls are still one of the most common ways final expense insurance gets compared and sold — and one of the most common ways it gets scammed. The two can sound similar in the first ten seconds, which is exactly why it helps to know the specific differences in advance, before you're actually on the call.
What a legitimate call looks like
A licensed agent calling you — whether because you requested a quote or because they're following up on an existing policy — will identify themselves by name, name the company or agency they're calling from, and give you a license number if asked. They'll explain the specific product they're discussing in plain terms, they won't rush you into a decision on the first call, and any policy you agree to will show up in writing afterward — an actual application and policy documents you can read, keep, and reread before your first payment is ever due.
Signs a call isn't legitimate
A few specific behaviors are reliable warning signs, regardless of how friendly or confident the caller sounds.
Watch for
- • Demanding immediate payment over the phone, especially by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.
- • Pressuring you to decide before you hang up, often with urgency like "this rate expires today."
- • Refusing to send anything in writing, or staying vague about the actual insurance company involved.
- • Asking for a bank account, Social Security, or Medicare number early, before any legitimate reason to need it.
- • Already seeming to know a lot about your finances or health from a source they won't explain.
What to do if you're on a suspicious call right now
Hang up. You don't owe a caller an explanation, a polite exit, or a chance to counter your objection — a legitimate company loses nothing from you calling back later through a number you looked up yourself. Don't confirm or give out personal or financial information, even just to "verify" who you are, since scammers often use small confirmed details to make the next call more convincing. If you want to check whether the company they claimed actually exists, look it up separately — it takes just a couple of minutes — using your state's insurance department, not a number or link the caller gave you.
Reporting it afterward
Once you're off the call, it's worth reporting it. The Federal Trade Commission takes reports of exactly this kind of call at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and reporting helps regulators track patterns even when a single report doesn't lead to an individual investigation. If money changed hands, contacting your bank or card issuer promptly matters too — the sooner a fraudulent transaction is reported, the better the odds of stopping or reversing it.