Retired Massachusetts couple's life savings wiped out after scam involving Apple gift cards. Now, they're doing gig work 'to survive' says daughter

Unwittingly, Holley followed the instructions laid out by the scammer. He withdrew $7,000 from his account, drove to the Apple Store and bought thousands of dollars in Apple gift cards. After he submitted the gift card codes to the scammer, they disappeared with the money.

“They had him scared that it was him that did it. They threatened to call the FBI,” Heroux told NBC 10. “So, he’s freaking out.”

Left with nothing, the couple, 74 and 72, have been forced to pick up gig work “to survive,” she said.

The Holleys aren’t the first seniors to fall prey to scammers. And, unfortunately, they likely won’t be the last victims of this common scam.

American seniors lose billions to scams every year

Fraudsters are targeting American retirees and getting away with billions of dollars every year. Although younger people can also lose money to scams, the FBI data shows that adults 60 and older lost close to twice as much in 2024 than the next-youngest cohort, $2.5 billion among 50 to 59 year olds, and nearly three-and-a-half times that of 30 to 39 year olds, who lost $1.4 billion in 2024 (1).

And these scams are on the rise, with the number of older adults reporting losses of $10,000 or more increasing more than fourfold between 2020 and 2024 (3), according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Increasingly, bank-spoofing calls are able to trick retirees into handing over big bucks. A ‘bank spoofing’ is when the victim receives a phone call, text message or email that appears to come from a legitimate source (4). For example, the caller ID might say the name of your bank’s fraud department. Trusting the caller ID can put seniors at risk of falling into a scammer's trap.

Typically, the spoofer impersonating the bank asks for information to ‘protect your account’ or ‘help a loved one.’ After providing a scammer with the information they need, you might see your savings vanish or your account locked.

Beyond spoofing, many scammers lean on the gift-card conversion scams. It’s an extremely successful way for scammers to tap into irreversible funds because after you hand over the gift card codes, there’s no way to claw back those funds. In fact, the FTC reports that 42% of people who paid a scammer used an iTunes or Google Play gift card to meet the fraudster’s demands (5). And none of those victims ever saw the money again.

A legitimate bank would never ask customers to withdraw money and buy gift cards to secure the funds. But many seniors aren’t aware of that detail.

How to protect yourself and your family

Whether you are a senior yourself or someone with seniors you care about in your life, learning how to spot the signs of a scam is critical.

For starters, it’s helpful to internalize the idea that no legitimate bank or government agency will ever demand payment in the form of gift cards. Make sure to share that key tidbit of information with any senior, or anyone in your life. If they are targeted by a scammer, they might remember the warning you’ve given them.

Beyond actively committing to never handing over funds to a ‘bank’ in the form of a gift card, it’s also a good idea to avoid automatically trusting caller ID. Unfortunately, scammers can manipulate caller ID to say any number of things, warns the FTC (6). In many cases, victims report that they received a call ‘from the bank.’ But, in fact, it is a scammer who has manipulated caller ID.