Everyone has heard the horrible stories, whether it be from a family member, a friend, or a neighbor: “I (or someone I know) got scammed for tens of thousands of dollars when people contacted me pretending to be X Y Z.” And in the modern age of the internet, scams are affecting nearly everyone of any age.
While scams are traditionally associated with the elderly, I personally know multiple college-aged people, too, who have been tricked into giving up their bank account information to a source claiming to be a separate legitimate entity. Unfortunately however, this Wild West landscape of cybercrime disproportionately affects older individuals most often, as the cyber-security basics many younger people know from experience begin to falter and fail even us. Older, traditional scam-avoiding advice originally designed for online elders is becoming increasingly outdated, leading many of the more vulnerable parts of our population to become easy prey for the average scammer.
No one is immune to these scams via the web.
“Here in Pennsylvania, more than 4,000 scam-related complaints were filed last year as residents lost more than $76 million to scammers in 2025 alone,” said Rep. Brian Munroe, of Bucks County. “That number is likely larger as many scams go unreported because victims feel embarrassed.”
Munroe said he knows, first-hand, how impactful these scams can be.
“This is a deeply personal issue to me as we discovered a few years ago that my own mother had been defrauded out of close to $40,000 over the span of two years. The amount of pain and financial damage these scammers are causing older adults and their families is unconscionable,” said Munroe. “There has been inaction on this issue for too long. We must find a way to protect seniors while holding criminals and social media platforms accountable.”
This September, The Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security is holding a virtual class aimed at preventing the average senior citizen from falling into the dastardly schemes of online criminals.
Sign up is free to all, and is available right up until the event starting at 1 p.m.,on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. Eventbrite is being used for registration with anyone interested encouraged to sign up with the link, which can be found here. According to the website: “All registered participants will receive an email with the Teams link and joining instructions within two (2) days before the webinar.” (Be sure to check all your folders, including “Spam,” if you aren’t finding it.)
Anyone experiencing issues with signing up for the seminar should contact Trina Schellhammer, the Public Engagement Manager at the Office of Homeland Security at email [email protected].
Good luck, and stay safe to anyone out there struggling with online scammers. It can seem impossible to combat, but there are resources out there to help you; most importantly, know you are not alone!
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