A younger group of Kentuckians is being duped by these scams, AG’s office says
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- Kentuckians reported $23.6M in 2024 scam losses; state warns 2025 may exceed.
- Seniors remain prime targets, but adults 26–39 face phony arrest and jury scams.
- Attorney General urges practice the pause: verify contacts, avoid urgent payment demands.
Kentuckians lost at least $23.6 million to scams and fraud last year, and according to the state attorney general’s office, they could lose as much or more in 2025.
While seniors are often common targets, younger adults under the age of 40 are falling for phony arrest warrants and jury duty scams, recent data from the agency shows.
“No one is protected from being scammed,” said Shellie May, who leads the Office of Senior Protection and Mediation and its anti-scam efforts.
The holidays present fresh opportunities for scammers, so remember these tips while you’re shopping for presents or making charitable donations.
What are the top scams Kentuckians fall prey to?
According to May, it’s rare for scammers to get creative and invent new schemes. The agency often sees a list of tried-and-true scams repackaged, especially around the holidays, when people are opening their wallets to loved ones and charitable causes. In Kentucky, they’re often successful.
“In 2024, we had just over 2,000 reports of scam and fraud, and we had a little over $23.6 million in reported losses,” May told the Herald-Leader in a recent interview. “We are on target to meet or exceed that for 2025.”
This spring, a crop of scams related to phony unpaid tolls circulated, including in Kentucky, where scammers posed as Louisville-based Riverlink to solicit payments. In August, a Lexington hospital warned scammers were fraudulently spoofing facility-related phone numbers to obtain financial information from patients.
Seniors are a common target for scams, May said, because they have the largest nest eggs available to them. That said, in recent months, the office has seen an uptick of scam reports from individuals between the ages of 26 to 39 who are being duped by phony arrest warrant scams, May said.
According to the Office of Senior Protection and Mediation, the top 10 types of scams reported in 2025 include:
1. Phony arrest warrants and threats of arrest over missed jury duty
2. Business impersonations
3. Identity theft
4. Social media account hacks
5. Online purchases
6. Fraudulent collection agencies and lenders
7. Phone call and text message solicitations
8. Fake calls about Medicaid, Medicare and healthcare issues
9. Bogus work-from-home offers
10. Romance scams
Tips to avoid holiday scams in 2025
May’s biggest piece of advice to avoid falling prey to scammers is to “practice the pause.”
“What these scammers and fraudsters are trying to do is to elicit an emotional response from a caller,” May said. “You just need to pause and really kind of think about what’s being asked of you.”
If someone contacts you trying to get you to act immediately, either by transferring money or giving your private information, that’s a red flag.
Other key tips to be aware of, especially heading into the holidays, include the following:
- Avoid online shopping scams by shopping local. Otherwise, don’t shop online from unfamiliar companies.
- Be wary of unsolicited calls from your bank. Scammers can spoof phone numbers, so call the number posted on your bank’s website or on your bank statements.
- Do a little research. If a purported company or business contacts you soliciting money or offering work, plug the company’s name into Google along with the word “scam.”
- Use an automated voicemail rather than recording a personal message. Artificial intelligence can clone your voice with just a few seconds of audio, and it can be convincing enough to fool one of your family members or friends.
- Report the scam. Law enforcement may not always be able to recover your money, but they can talk you through next steps. People who make reports to the attorney general’s office get personalized responses, May said. Reporting the scam also helps law enforcement track criminal activity. Report it to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, to the Federal Trade Commission and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) if you were scammed online.
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