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"Fraud Watch Friday" Events Fight Back Against Scams

AARP

Published June 30, 2025

REGISTER NOW for our next Fraud Watch Friday event, on March 20th at 10:30am.

From Hello to Help Me: How Relationship Scams Work

Relationship‑based scams are rising fast, and scammers are using trust and emotional connection to steal money and personal information. You don’t have to be looking for love to be a target—many now pose as friendly new “pals” before shifting the conversation toward money or cryptocurrency.

We will share 3 key tips to spot these scams early. You’ll learn the top red flags, how scammers build false relationships, and what you can do to stay protected. Bring your questions—we’re here to help.

>> Register here to attend

To help fight back against scammers, AARP Washington hosts an online event each month. Led by volunteers from the AARP Fraud Watch Network, the sessions are held on the third Friday of each month at 10:30 a.m. on Zoom. The sessions are also live on Facebook (where they are available for later viewing). We cover the latest topics in the field, such as robocall scams, Amazon scams, email phishing, phony texts, romance scams, home repair scams, frauds targeting veterans and more.

Con-artists are incredibly sophisticated, but fortunately consumers can avoid many of their tactics by adopting some relatively simple precautions," says Fraud Watch Network volunteer Kay Tomlinson. "This is especially true when it comes to cyber fraud. I hope our tidbits of information on frauds and how to avoid them will help FWF participants develop what I call a 'fraud fighter mindset' where they skeptically examine every email, text, phone call and interaction." While anyone can be targeted by fraud, older Americans are often victims. In 2021, impostor scams and identity theft were the top two types of fraud Washington state consumers reported to the Federal Trade Commission.

We hope the Fraud Watch Fridays will keep our participants aware of how fraud schemes work, how to lessen their own chances of being victimized, and will keep them aware of new types of schemes which constantly arise," said Tomlinson. Fraud Watch Friday is sponsored by BECU. For more information, email aarpwa@aarp.org

Watch the past Fraud Watch Friday videos at the links below:

Fraud Watch Friday (January 2026)

Fraud Watch Friday (December 2025)

Fraud Watch Friday (October 2025)

Fraud Watch Friday (September 2025)

Fraud Watch Friday (August 2025)

Fraud Watch Friday (July 2025)

Fraud Watch Friday (June 2025)

For more on AARP's Fraud Watch Network, visit this LINK