Wisconsin City Sees Huge Jump In Scam Reports This Year

Scams are nothing new these days. Sadly, scammers have become very sophisticated and know the right targets. Unfortunately, this means they are targeting the elderly and those that might not know better.

Some scams have become so advanced that even I can have a hard time telling if something is real or not. That's how sophisticated they have become.

Get our free mobile app

I saw something on social media that only proves this point further. The Wausau Police Department shared a pretty scary statistic about scams in the area and it will definitely make your jaw drop.

That fact? That fraud is up 100% from last year. That fraud is contributed to scammers, who have stolen up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases. Wow.

According to their post, the main victims are those over the age of 65. They also revealed that this is due to a wide number of scams, from scam popups that show up when you're online to fake emails.

RELATED: FBI Warns Of New Phishing Threat Targeting Americans

There's also the all-too-common text message phishing scam, which is where scammers get you to give up personal information. There's also the scams that create a sense of urgency so their victims are more likely to give something up quickly.

This is a great reminder to check up on the older folks in your life and make sure they are aware of the scams going around and what they should do to protect themselves. The fact that fraud jumped 100% in a year is crazy!

RELATED: Stay Alert For The New Gold Bar Scam In Minnesota

Sometimes I get emails and texts that even I second guess. A good rule of thumb is to ignore something you aren't a thousand percent sure of. If it is actually something super important and urgent, they will contact you again.