Speaker warns Utah seniors about 'AI imposter' grandparent scam, urges family passcodes and reporting

A presenter at the meeting warned about a surge in "AI imposter" scams in which callers impersonate relatives — often a grandchild — to pressure older adults into sending money.

The presenter described how the call typically begins: the caller uses a name the elder would recognize and says something like, "grandma, it's me, Johnny," then claims to be in jail and asks the elder to send money immediately via Venmo, a wire transfer or cryptocurrency.

"An AI imposter scam is when somebody calls up and acts like they are somebody that you already know," the presenter said. "In particular, the AI imposter grandparent scam is when somebody calls up and is imposing or pretending to be your grandchild." The presenter added that callers often ask the elder not to tell the parents and create a false sense of urgency.

The presenter listed several red flags that indicate a likely scam: an urgent request for money; instructions to send funds by Venmo, crypto or other unconventional channels; and refusal to let the elder contact the relative directly. "I don't know a jail in any state that requires Venmo or crypto," the presenter said.

As protective steps, the presenter urged families to create a shared passcode or passphrase that only relatives would know and to use verification questions if the elder is unsure. "We're encouraging all family members with their grandparents, with their loved ones to have a similar family passcode, passphrase," the presenter said. If no passcode exists, the presenter advised hanging up and calling the relative on a known number to confirm the call.

The presenter also urged people to report suspected scams to Utah's Division of Consumer Protection at dcp.utah.gov and to use the state's scams portal at scams.utah.gov to learn about current tactics. "We could get out alerts to people when these things happen if people actually report and let us know this has happened to them," the presenter said, adding that officials encourage reports even if no money was lost. The presenter also referenced the Federal Trade Commission and ftc.gov as federal resources on scams.

The presenter emphasized that reporting helps authorities track new tactics and issue alerts, and reiterated the main protections: recognize urgency and nontraditional payment requests as red flags, verify with a known contact or passphrase, and report incidents to consumer-protection authorities.

For more information, the presenter directed listeners to dcp.utah.gov, scams.utah.gov and ftc.gov.