Fraud prevention: How to protect yourself, family members from scams targeting seniors

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Here's a quick tip to protect yourself or your family members from scams targeting seniors.

A recent report by the FBI found that elder fraud is up by 74%.

Here are tips from experts and data security company Proxyrac on how to stop the trend.

Email scams are one of the most common types of elder fraud. Do not to click on any attachments or links in emails. If you think you know the company sending the message, verify it's the real company by calling.

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Never give out personal information like social security numbers, and account numbers unless you are calling the business or organization. Hang up on cold calls.

Set up credit monitoring protection services which can alert you of any suspicious or fraudulent activity on accounts.

If you or a family member have fallen victim to elder fraud, report the crime to local law enforcement immediately.

Any scam or fraud of an adult aged 60 years and older can be reported to the National Elder Fraud Hotline.