This senior fell victim to a gift card scam—a growing ploy for fraudsters

Increasingly, gift cards are a leading fraud payment method reported by older adults, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving, Mae awoke, set her hair in curlers and switched on her laptop. The screen froze and a message appeared. It said her Safari web browser had encountered a problem, and a link offered to connect the 83-year-old to the Apple Computer Company. Mae clicked it.