When internet scammers targeted Priscilla Goldfarb last month, she was horribly jet-lagged after traveling 22 hours to meet her son. The 81-year-old Cold Spring resident was in a hotel room in Singapore, getting ready for bed when she checked her phone.

"I had a message from my bank asking me to verify a transaction that I had made on PayPal," she said. "There was an intimation that there could be fraud. They wanted to make sure it was a valid transaction. I absolutely considered clicking on the link. I was halfway around the world. Who knew what could happen?"

But Goldfarb hesitated. "I know that I am more likely to be subjected to scam attempts because of my age," she said.

Rather than click on the email link, she called the customer service number listed on the back of her credit card. "They told me they had not sent me any fraud alerts," said Goldfarb.

Goldfarb was one of about 20 seniors who attended a presentation held Feb. 13 at the Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison on avoiding scams and identity theft. The program was organized by Philipstown Aging at Home and led by Ryan Biracree, the digital services librarian.

I attended at the insistence of my wife, who tells our children that I'm vulnerable to scams because I once responded to a robocall claiming to alert me to a problem with my Amazon account. I spoke with a lovely woman with a foreign accent for 10 minutes before my wife said, "Who are you talking to?" and made me hang up. For the record, I did not share any personal information.

"You may think that you're too smart to fall for something," Goldfarb told me. "But anybody can fall for something. It's that sense of urgency [the scammer creates], that you could be in jeopardy."

Protect Yourself

• Scammers often pretend to be from an organization you know, like the IRS, Amazon, Medicare or your local utility. They create a sense of urgency and demand payment. If you get this kind of call, hang up and call the organization directly.

• Scammers claim there is an urgent problem, such as a family member with an emergency. Don't act immediately. Tell them that you'll call them back. Or ask them a question that only the family member would know.

• Scammers claim you have a computer virus. Hang up on anyone you don't know. If you get a popup warning on your screen, don't call the number.

• Scammers say you won a prize but you have to pay a fee to collect.

• Scammers will pressure you to act immediately. Resist.

• Scammers tell you to pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer, a payment app or gift cards.

• Block unwanted calls and text messages.

• Don't use customer-service numbers you found through a Google search. Start by visiting the merchant's website.

• Don't give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn't expect.

• If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it's real, it's still prudent not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website you know is trustworthy.

• Before acting, talk to someone you trust.

Source: Federal Trade Commission

Online scams are a growing business. In 2023, they cost U.S. residents an estimated $12.5 billion, almost four times the losses in 2019, according to FBI data. That's a conservative estimate because only 20 percent of cybercrime is reported. New York ranks fourth in losses, with over $700 million. Californians lost three times that.

The scams vary. There are phishing emails or robocalls that claim to be from your bank, Amazon, your health insurer, the IRS or the Social Security Administration, where scammers ask for personal information to help clear up a "problem with your account." There are also phony job offers, phony investment opportunities, romance scams where suitors seek your money and phony medical cures for everything from erectile dysfunction to poor eyesight.

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