This month for AARP Bulletin, I took an in-depth look at how Coloradans are protecting seniors from financial scams. The AARP Foundation’s Fraud Fighter Call Center is a reverse boiler room run from its Denver office. Volunteers – seniors themselves – call strangers to proactively warn them about scams. Although callers often don’t get through and must leave a message, research shows that even if warned on an answering machine, seniors are far less likely to fall for a scam.

I was surprised to learn that financial fraudsters target older, married, high-income, college-educated people. Yet it makes sense. These professionals have had a lifetime to earn, save and invest. “(Seniors) are also the most vulnerable population because if they are no longer working, they don’t have the opportunity to recover from losses,” Gerri Walsh, president of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, told me.

Learn about other AARP Foundation programs to prevent fraud and simple strategies to protect yourself and your parents.