By Debbie Gardner
dgardner@thereminder.com
Are you feeling lonely lately? If you are, you’re not alone. According to data from the American Psychological Association published in November 2025, more than 50% of American adults age 18 and older report feelings of loneliness and isolation on a regular basis.
But being lonely isn’t just bad in a social context, it can also affect your physical health, leading to conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide.
And being lonely can affect your financial health.
How loneliness makes us vulnerable
According to Deb Bibbins, founder and CEO of For All Ages, a Connecticut-based nonprofit with a mission to empower people to build real connections that transform health and life outcomes, lonely people are more susceptible to fraud of all types.
Bibbins was a featured speaker during a recent online seminar focusing on current fraud scams hosted by American Eagle Financial Credit Union, which has branches in Enfield and throughout northern Connecticut.
“Chronic loneliness actually elevates our stress hormones in our body and reduces cognitive clarity,” Bibbins said, adding that the elevated stress hormones make it harder to recognize red flags in unexpected calls and messages.
“When someone feels lonely, an unexpected call or a message can feel meaningful, and so scammers use that to quickly build rapport with people when they are able to identify someone that wants to have a conversation,” Bibbins said. “Scammers know how to exploit people that are craving connection; they use warmth, they use affection, and they use trust-building tactics very strategically in order to befriend you and build a relationship by which they are able then to take advantage of you.”
Bibbins said some lonely individuals, especially isolated elders, may even look forward to telemarketer and scam calls for the simple act of conversation.
Bibbins said the lonely also lack an important safeguard, social connections they can check in with when they get an unexpected call, or Facebook message, or email or text and something about it doesn’t feel right.
Loneliness can also lead to impulse decisions, which, Bibbins said, “Scammers are really, really quick to exploit.”
There’s a scam for every weakness
Samantha Konsewicz, senior fraud analyst at American Eagle Financial Credit Union, shared that there are at least six types of scams on her radar as 2026 begins.
Working closely with local law enforcement, Konsewicz said the “trending scams that we’re seeing are the imposter scams, the grandparent scams, the tech support scams, romance scams, gold bar and career service scams.”
The imposter scam, Konsewicz said, is when an individual gets a call from what looks like their financial institution, alerting them to an issue with their account.
“So, our fraudsters have the ability to spoof your financial institution’s phone number,” so it looks legitimate, but the scammer is calling from a different number, Konsewicz said. Designed to startle and frighten, these calls make it easy for scammers to get an individual to disclose important identity information, according to Konsewicz.
“They’ll typically start by asking you to verify some type of transaction that doesn’t exist,” Konsewicz said. When you say you didn’t authorize the transaction, that’s when “the fraudster will ask for some sort of identifying information, and that’s where the information gets compromised,” Konsewicz explained.
Konsewicz emphasized your financial institution will never ask you for your password or text you a code to verify your identity.
“If we’re reaching out to you directly, we’re aware of who we’re talking to, and we don’t need you to verify yourself,” Konsewicz said. “We would never ask you to provide a password, or a full debit card number, or something along those lines.”
The grandparent scam is one that many people are aware of, Konsewicz said. It starts with a call from someone claiming to be a family member alerting you about some type of emergency — an accident or an arrest — that requires immediate attention.
These scams often include a deepfake of a loved one’s voice, so it sounds as though the person is on the phone, followed by instructions to wire money, usually out of the country, or withdraw funds from your financial institution and overnight the cash, Konsewicz explained.
This fraud, Konsewicz said, acts on fear, prompting an individual to act before he or she can think the situation through.
“If you ever get a call like this, don’t be afraid to, you know, put this person on hold and call that person, or call somebody who might have information as to whether or not that’s true,” Konsewicz said. “But just remember, a police department … or a government agency or a hospital, they’re never going to call you and ask you to wire funds.”
The tech support scam. Most people are also familiar with tech support scams, Konsewicz said, though the newest version isn’t a phone call, but a “pop-up message, or blank screen on your computer or phone” that indicates your device is damaged or needs fixing.
“Again, it’s going to be an urgent type of matter that they want you to respond to,” Konsewicz said, asking you to either click a link or call a specific number, followed by a request by the scammer to access your device. Once they have access, scammers will install malware that can steal information from your device.
The next step will usually be to demand payment for servicing your device, typically in cash or a wire transfer. Konsewicz said scammers will even script you on what to say to your financial institution if they question the withdrawal, suggesting you say it is for a home remodel or car purchase.
Konsewicz added that if the request for payment involves a wire transfer, most scammers use a crypto platform, and that means once the money is transferred, it’s gone. There’s no way to trace it.
Romance scams are fraud that connects directly to loneliness and isolation, Konsewicz said, adding that Bibbins had noted women over 60 are the most vulnerable to fraud of any kind, but especially romance scams, which often begin through meeting an individual on social media or through a dating site.
“These people can spend weeks, months, even years … emailing with you, speaking with you on the phone, facetiming; they’ll make the connection as real as possible,” Konsewicz said. Once that trust is built, scammers will ask for some type of financial transaction.
“Sometimes they’ll ask for money in the form of a plane ticket,” Konsewicz said, adding there will be a pretense of wanting to come meet you, but being short on cash. Or, the scammer might plead that there is a family emergency and they need cash.
A new twist on the romance scam is to couple it with an investment scam, Konsewicz added.
“They’re going to say, ‘Hey, I just started investing my money into this new investment platform. It’s really great. My money doubles overnight,’” Konsewicz said.
These investment vehicles have fake websites, dashboards and credentials, and are connected to crypto platforms, Konsewicz shared. Small initial investments do show a return, but when victims, who by then trust their new romantic partner, invest heavily, often emptying retirement accounts, their money is gone.
The courier scam. One last scam is also gaining prevalence, according to Konsewicz, which involves a threat of federal crime prosecution.
Called the gold bar or courier scam, this scam begins when an individual is contacted and told their identity has been used to commit some type of federal crime. Claiming to be from the FBI or other investigative service, the scammer uses an immediate scare tactic to get the victim to agree to remove all their funds from their financial institution and put it in the hands of the investigating service, claiming that their bank or investment firm is potentially involved in the identity theft.
“They’re going to keep your funds safe. Once the investigation is over, they’ll return those funds to you,” is the claim, according to Konsewicz. “The scary part is they’re actually sending people out, couriers, to locations, to your home, to meeting places to pick up this money directly from you.”
And like every other scam, once the money is handed over, it’s gone, Konsewicz said.
For more information on fraud prevention, visit American Eagle Financial Credit Union’s website at americaneagle.org/Learn/Education/Fraud-Prevention.