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Nebraska Retirement Systems presenter warns of rising elder fraud, lists protections and hotlines
Summary
A Nebraska Retirement Systems presentation outlined how common scams work, cited recent local cases and enforcement actions, and urged victims to contact financial institutions and hotlines including the national elder-fraud hotline (1‑833‑372‑8311) and Nebraska DHHS Adult Protective Services.
A presenter for Nebraska Retirement Systems laid out common elder-financial scams and practical steps for prevention and recovery, citing both national figures and recent Nebraska cases.
The presenter said that, according to the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, more than $3 billion was lost nationwide to elder financial fraud in 2023 and that Nebraskans reported about $9.64 million in losses that year. To illustrate the local risk, the presenter summarized an October 2024 report about a 79-year-old Lincoln woman who was scammed out of roughly $800,000 after responding to callers posing as PayPal representatives and sending money via Bitcoin and gift cards.
Why this matters: the presenter stressed that these schemes rely on social engineering and urgency to bypass victims’ normal skepticism, and that shame and fear of appearing cognitively impaired often prevent victims from reporting the crime.
The presentation ran through a range of common schemes and concrete protections. Investment and “dropshipping” scams were singled out: the presenter referenced a reported Nebraska Attorney General lawsuit alleging an influencer and a business marketed e-commerce schemes that led some consumers to lose tens of thousands of dollars. The presenter also warned about tech-support scams that seek remote access to devices, business email compromise schemes that impersonate employers or banks, romance scams that cultivate trust over months or years, and government-impersonation scams that threaten arrest or fines.
The presenter offered specific advice: hang up on suspicious callers; verify requests for account changes through a secondary channel (call a known number or contact the purported institution directly); enable two-factor authentication; keep operating systems and antivirus software updated; avoid clicking unsolicited links or entering information on unfamiliar websites; and—and where family verification is possible—use a pre-arranged password to confirm a relative’s identity before sending money.
On cryptocurrency scams, the presenter said Nebraska has seen sizable losses and advised avoiding cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks. "If you get nothing else out of today... avoid utilizing cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks," the presenter said.
For immediate action after suspected fraud, the presenter recommended contacting the financial institution to request a recall or reversal and then filing complaints with appropriate agencies. The presenter provided the national elder-fraud hotline, 1‑833‑372‑8311, and said the hotline is confidential and received more than 50,000 calls in the prior year. He also listed Nebraska DHHS Adult Protective Services hotlines for suspected neglect or abuse and cited state resources such as protectthegoodlife.com and the Consumer Affairs Response Team (CART).
The presenter referenced other enforcement and reporting options including filings with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office, notices from the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska about court‑number spoofing, and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov) for cyber-related complaints.
The presentation closed by urging viewers to share the information, file reports if they suspect fraud, and seek help from family, financial institutions, and the listed hotlines so that victims can pursue recoveries where possible.
