“We’ve found fraud on your taxes. This is the IRS. If you don’t pay, you’ll be arrested by the cops.” Sound familiar? If you have a cellphone, chances are you’ve had a call from a suspected scammer. The one where a robotic voice warns you of your expired insurance, an error on your taxes or a bank loan gone bad. Situations that demand you act immediately – if they weren’t false pretenses designed to fleece you out of your money. Screening and ignoring unknown callers are the best way to avoid fraudulent scams, and some service providers are beginning to offer automated screening alerts. But not everyone has the luxury of skipping calls they don’t recognize, and some groups, particularly the elderly, may not even be aware of the risk. And when you factor in a higher likelihood of cognitive impairments, it’s no surprise that older adults are a prime target for fraudsters. This has led to a growing criminal industry of phone scammers who prey entirely on the elderly. Studies suggest that 1 in 18 older adults face fraud each year, and according to Fraud.org, “more than one in every five complaints received in 2018 came from someone over the age of 65.” That’s a nearly 20 percent increase over the year before, which suggests that scammers are only becoming more aggressive in their targeting. So what can you do? The best defense is awareness. By learning the most common phone scams, you can stay safe and ensure those you care for are too. Share these scenarios with your older loved ones so they know what to do if the “IRS” comes calling. According to the Special Committee on Aging, here are the top phone scams affecting the elderly: IRS impersonators This scheme...