The three-call trap

If a caller says your accounts have been hacked and you need to move your money somewhere “safe,” you already know enough to win: hang up. No real bank, tech company, or government agency ends that call by asking you to move your savings.

The FBI keeps flagging a version of this that is built to fool careful people — and it leans hardest on retirees. Here is exactly how it runs, and the one sentence that stops it cold.

Scam Watch

Three callers, one goal: your savings moved to an account that isn’t safe

The scam the FBI calls the “phantom hacker” works in a relay of three calls, each one making the last more believable. First a “tech support” agent — from your computer maker, your antivirus, an online store — warns that your device is infected. They get you to install software so they can “look,” then tell you the damage is worse than expected: criminals are now inside your bank.

Right on schedule, a second caller claims to be from your bank or brokerage, “confirming” the breach. Then a third, posing as the Federal Reserve or a government agent, tells you the only way to protect your life savings is to move it to a new “safe” or “government” account while they investigate. That account belongs to the criminals. The money is usually gone the same day.

Who it targets and what it costs

This is not a rare trick aimed at the careless. In 2025, tech- and customer-support scams reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center cost Americans more than $2.1 billion, and people over 60 made up roughly half of the victims and the losses. The reason it works is patience: the callers are calm, they never rush the first call, and by the third one you feel like the only adult taking the threat seriously.

The one tell: no legitimate bank, tech company, or agency will ever tell you to move, wire, or transfer your money to a “safe account” to protect it — and the government will never ask you to send money by wire, gift card, cryptocurrency, a crypto ATM, or a courier picking up cash or gold at your door. The FBI states it plainly: those requests are, by themselves, the proof it is a scam.

So the defense is simple and it is entirely in your hands. If any caller steers you toward moving money, hang up — do not press a number, do not “let them explain.” Then call your bank using the number printed on your card or statement, not one a caller gave you. Never let someone you did not call take control of your computer or phone. If you think you were targeted, report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov; reporting fast gives your bank the best chance of clawing funds back. Tell one family member the “safe account” line today — saying it out loud is what makes it bounce off you when the call comes.

Property Tax

Thousands in senior tax breaks go unclaimed every year

Now the good news you can actually pocket. While Washington debates, a quieter shift is putting real money back in older homeowners’ pockets — and a surprising share of it goes unclaimed because no one files.

Texas voters just approved Proposition 11, which raised the school-tax homestead exemption for homeowners 65 and older from $10,000 to $60,000. Stacked with the general homestead exemption, some Texas seniors can now shield up to about $200,000 of their home’s school-tax value. New Jersey began its first full payouts under the new Stay NJ program this year, and New York is widening the senior exemption that can cut a home’s assessed value by as much as 65%.

What to actually do

The catch is that almost none of these are automatic. You generally have to apply once, through your county assessor or your state’s tax office, and many seniors never do — so they keep paying the full bill on a break they already qualify for.

• Check your county first: search your county assessor or appraisal district for “over-65” or “senior” homestead exemption, and confirm whether you also qualify for a tax freeze that locks your bill going forward.
• Ask about your state program: many states run a separate senior “circuit breaker,” freeze, or rebate on top of the local exemption.
• Mind the calendar: deadlines vary and several fall early in the year, so file the moment you turn 65 rather than waiting for a renewal notice that may never come.

If you are already 65 and have never filed, that is the single most valuable half-hour of paperwork on this list. Start with your county assessor’s website and search your own address — your current exemptions are usually listed right there.

The One Number

Next year’s raise is coming — and part of it is already spoken for

The 2027 Social Security raise is firming up, and it is bigger than recent years. The Senior Citizens League’s latest estimate puts the cost-of-living adjustment near 3.6%, trimmed from 3.8% a month earlier as inflation cooled. On an average benefit, that is roughly $70 more a month. The official figure isn’t set yet — Social Security announces it on October 14, after the September inflation data lands, so treat any number before then as a projection.

Here is the part that surprises people every year: some of that raise is already promised to Medicare. The latest Trustees projection has the standard Medicare Part B premium rising about 3.5% in 2027 to roughly $209.50 a month — and for most people that premium comes straight out of the Social Security check before it arrives. So the number you see announced in October and the number your deposit actually grows by are two different figures. Knowing that now keeps the raise from feeling like a letdown in January, and lets you plan around the real increase rather than the headline one.

Deadline

Medicare’s one yearly window to switch opens October 15

Mark it now: Medicare’s Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7. It is the once-a-year stretch when you can change Advantage or drug plans, or move between Original Medicare and Advantage, with the new coverage starting January 1.

Before the window opens, watch your mail for your plan’s Annual Notice of Change — the letter that spells out next year’s premium, drug tiers, and covered pharmacies. Plans quietly reshuffle every year, so the coverage that fit in 2026 may not be your best value for 2027. Reading that one letter, and comparing plans at Medicare.gov once the window opens, is how you avoid overpaying for a full year over a change you never agreed to.

Retirement Roundup

• Money that may already be yours: states are holding billions in forgotten deposits, refunds, and old accounts. Searching your name is free at MissingMoney.com, the official database backed by state unclaimed-property offices — and no legitimate service charges you to claim your own money, so skip any “finder” that asks for a fee.
• Free, unbiased Medicare help: before Open Enrollment, your State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers one-on-one counseling at no cost and does not sell plans. It is the calm, sales-free way to compare your options — find your local counselor and book early, because appointments fill once the window opens.
• Check your own record before the raise lands: a free my Social Security account shows your benefit amount and your earnings history, which is where COLA increases actually get applied. Setting it up also locks your account so no one can open one in your name first — a small, quiet piece of fraud protection.

Quick Check

Your 2027 Social Security raise gets announced as a percentage — but is that the number your monthly deposit actually goes up by?

Answer

Usually not. For most people, the Medicare Part B premium is deducted from the Social Security payment before it hits the bank, so when the premium rises, it eats into the raise. That is why the increase you’re told about in October can feel smaller in January — the announced percentage is applied to your benefit, then the higher premium comes out. It is not an error, and it is not something being taken from you unfairly; it is simply why the raise on paper and the raise in your account are two different numbers worth checking side by side.

Written by Ellen Marsh

Retirement Shield is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask you for an account number, Social Security number, password, or payment.