reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network

Bitcoin ATMs have become a preferred tool for scammers looking to defraud unsuspecting victims—especially seniors. These transactions are not like traditional financial transactions. The money sent through Bitcoin ATMs is nearly impossible to recover. This fact makes them an attractive option for criminals engaged in fraud and money laundering.

How Bitcoin ATM Scams Work

Scammers prey on the public’s lack of familiarity with cryptocurrency. They exploit individual fears through sophisticated fraud schemes. A common scam targeting older adults involves a fraudulent message or phone call. The call might be from someone claiming to be with Apple, Google, or another well-known company, or even law enforcement. The scammer tells the victim that their financial accounts have been compromised. The call recipient is told they need to take immediate action to prevent unauthorized transactions on their account. If the scammer is pretending to be from a law enforcement agency, they may even threaten the victim with criminal prosecution or jail time if the victim doesn’t pay a fine right away.  

Victims are then instructed to withdraw large amounts of cash from their bank accounts. They are told to deposit the funds into a Bitcoin ATM. The cash is inserted and converted into Bitcoin. The victim is directed to scan and send a receipt or QR code to the scammer. The moment that transaction is completed, the money is gone —permanently. Traditional bank transfers, wire transfers, or credit card transactions have fraud prevention measures. These measures provide customer protection or financial institution safeguards to stop or reverse the transfer. That is not the case with Bitcoin ATM transactions.

Why Bitcoin ATMs Are a Major Risk

Bitcoin ATMs lack oversight and regulation. For this reason, they are widely used for scamming and money laundering. Some consumers may attempt to use them for legitimate transactions. However, they often come with very high fees. The fees make them an inefficient and costly way to buy cryptocurrency. It’s safer and cheaper to convert cash to cryptocurrency through a licensed and regulated online exchange.

Without regulation, victims of Bitcoin ATM scams have no meaningful consumer protections. They also have little or no recourse for recovering their stolen funds. Financial institutions have fraud prevention departments that monitor transactions. Banks can file suspicious activity reports (SARs) to investigate potential fraud. Unfortunately, Bitcoin ATMs operate outside these safeguards. They allow scammers to steal money quickly and anonymously.

Real-Life Scams Cost Victims Thousands

Fraudsters employ Bitcoin ATMs for a well-known fraud scheme. They convince the victims that their Apple Pay or another account has been hacked. They urge the victim to withdraw their money and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM. The scammers promise the money will be safe from hackers there in the ATM. The victim completes the transaction and sends a copy of the Bitcoin receipt to the scammers. The scammers then disappear with the money.

In another twist, the scammers may convince victims to download software onto their phones. This gives the criminals access to the victim’s SIM card and phone data. The victims incur additional expenses when they discover they can only block the criminals’ access to their information by purchasing another cell phone.

A Call for Stronger Consumer Protections

Bitcoin ATMs are an unchecked risk for consumers. Michigan is not alone in facing this growing problem. Some states have taken action by limiting Bitcoin ATM transactions to $1,000 per day. The amount scammers can steal from victims in a single transaction is significantly reduced in this way. A similar limit in Michigan could have prevented an elderly couple from losing their entire life savings.

How to Protect Yourself from Bitcoin ATM Scams

To avoid becoming a victim of a Bitcoin ATM scam, remember these key points:

• No legitimate company or government agency will ever ask you to deposit money into a Bitcoin ATM. If someone makes such a request, it’s a scam
• Beware of urgent requests. Scammers create a sense of urgency to prevent victims from thinking critically about the request.
• Do not trust caller ID. Fraudsters can spoof phone numbers to make it appear as though they are calling from a trusted source
• Never download unknown software or grant remote access to your devices. This can allow scammers to take control of your personal information.
• Talk to your bank before making large withdrawals. If you’re instructed to move money in an unusual way, seek advice first.

Stay informed and help advocate for stronger regulations. In doing so, we can help protect consumers from the devastating impact of Bitcoin ATM scams. Urge your state legislators to support laws that limit these high-risk transactions if you are concerned about the lack of consumer protections surrounding Bitcoin ATMs.

reprinted from Michigan Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team

Everyone wants to know what they can do to lower their breast cancer risk. Although doctors don’t know what causes breast cancer, they do know there are factors linked to a higher-than-average risk of developing the disease. Some factors associated with an increase in breast cancer risk — being a woman, your age, and your genetics, for example — can’t be changed. Other factors — lack of exercise, smoking cigarettes, and eating certain foods — can be altered by making lifestyle choices.

By choosing the healthiest lifestyle options possible, you can empower yourself and make sure your breast cancer risk is as low as possible.

The known risk factors for breast cancer are listed below. Click on each link to learn more about the risk factor and ways you can minimize it in your own life. If a factor can’t be changed (such as your genetics), you can learn about protective steps to help keep your risk as low as possible.

Known breast cancer risk factors

• Sex: Being a woman, or a person assigned female at birth, is one of the most important risk factors for developing breast cancer.
  
• Age: As with many other diseases, your risk of breast cancer goes up as you get older. About two out of three invasive breast cancers are found in women 55 or older.
  
• Family History: Women with close relatives — especially sisters, mothers, or daughters — who have been diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher risk of developing the disease.
  
• Genetics: About 5% to 10% of breast cancers are thought to be hereditary, caused by abnormal genes passed from parent to child.
  
• Personal History of Breast Cancer: If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you’re three to four times more likely to develop a new cancer in the other breast or a different part of the same breast.
  
• Radiation to Chest or Face Before Age 30: If you had radiation to the chest or face to treat another cancer or acne, you have a higher-than-average risk of breast cancer.
  
• Certain Breast Changes:  If you’ve been diagnosed with certain benign (not cancer) breast conditions, you may have a higher risk of breast cancer.
  
• Race/Ethnicity: White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than Black, Hispanic, and Asian women. But Black women are more likely to develop more aggressive, more advanced-stage breast cancer diagnosed at a young age.
  
• Being Overweight: Overweight and obese women have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared to women who maintain a healthy weight, especially after menopause.
  
• Pregnancy History: Your age when you give birth to your first child and the number of times you’ve given birth — including if you’ve never had a full-term pregnancy — can affect your risk of developing breast cancer.
  
• Breastfeeding History: Breastfeeding can lower breast cancer risk, especially if you breastfeed for longer than one year.

• Menstrual History: Women who had their first period before they turned 12 have a higher risk of breast cancer later in life.
  
• Using HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy): Some types of HRT can increase the risk of breast cancer in people with certain risk factors.
  
• Using Hormonal Birth Control: Hormonal forms of contraception (such as the pill, patch, and hormonal IUDs) may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer.

• Drinking Alcohol: Research shows that drinking alcoholic beverages of any kind increases a woman’s risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
  
• Dense Breasts: Women with dense breasts have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
  
• Lack of Exercise: Research shows a link between exercising regularly at a moderate or intense level for four to seven hours per week and a lower risk of breast cancer.
  
• Smoking: Smoking is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in younger, pre-menopausal women.
  

Sponsor Message

Emerging breast cancer risk factors

• Low Vitamin D Levels: Research suggests that women with low levels of vitamin D have a higher risk of breast cancer.
  
• Light Exposure at Night: The results of several studies suggest that women who work at night — so they’re exposed to bright light when their bodies want to sleep —  have a higher risk of breast cancer compared to women who work during the day.
  
• DES (Diethylstilbestrol) Exposure: Women who were exposed to DES while their mothers were pregnant with them may have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer later in life.
  
• Eating Unhealthy Food: Diet is thought to be at least partly responsible for about 30% to 40% of all cancers.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Hair Dyes and Straighteners: Some studies suggest that there could be a link between exposure to hair dyes and straighteners and the development of breast cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Cosmetics: Research strongly suggests that at certain exposure levels, some of the chemicals in cosmetics, including triclosan, may contribute to the development of cancer in people.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Food: Between pesticides, antibiotics, and mercury, there are concerns that exposure to chemicals in food products may cause an increased risk of breast cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals for Lawns and Gardens: Research strongly suggests that at certain exposure levels, some of the chemicals in lawn and garden products may cause cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Plastic: Research strongly suggests that at certain exposure levels, some of the chemicals in plastic products, such as bisphenol A (BPA), may cause cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Sunscreen: There are some concerns about specific chemicals sometimes found in sunscreen products being linked to cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals in Water: Some drinking water, whether from a tap or a bottle, may be contaminated with chemicals or substances linked to cancer.
  
• Exposure to Chemicals When Food Is Grilled or Prepared: Research has shown that women who ate a lot of grilled, barbecued, and/or smoked meats may be at increased risk of breast cancer.
  
• Exposure to High Levels of Fine-Particle Air Pollution: Research suggests that women who live and work in places with high levels of fine-particle air pollution, such as dust, dirt and smoke, have a higher risk of breast cancer.
  

Fears with no evidence

Some factors have been widely rumored to increase breast cancer risk, but there is no conclusive evidence behind these claims.

• Abortion: Research shows abortion is not linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Antiperspirants: Research to date has not found a link between use of antiperspirants and breast cancer.
• Bras: There’s no evidence that wearing a bra increases the chance of developing breast cancer.
• Dairy: The current research doesn’t show any links between dairy and breast cancer. Some dairy products may actually lower breast cancer risk.
• IVF: Most large studies suggest that being exposed to higher estrogen levels during IVF doesn’t increase breast cancer risk.

reprinted from Breast cancer.org

It’s important to know the signs of a Medicare scam so you can protect yourself. To get your personal information, like your Medicare number, scammers may call, text and email saying things like:

• “You need to activate or renew your Medicare card.”
• “We’d like to send you a free genetic testing kit.”
• “Medicare has authorized us to send you a free (knee, back or elbow) brace.”
• “You qualify for a refund on your Medicare costs.”

Remember, never give your Medicare card or number to anyone except your doctor or people you know should have it.

Protect Yourself From Fraud

Keep in mind: Caller IDs and email addresses can be faked, so if you’re not sure who’s calling, call us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). And remember, Medicare will never contact you unless you’ve contacted us first.

Sincerely,

The Medicare Team

reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network

For millions of Americans, getting a COVID-19 vaccine this fall may be different and more difficult than in years past.

A federal vaccine panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), voted on Sept. 19 to recommend the updated COVID-19 vaccine for adults 65 and older using “shared clinical decision making,” which is a discussion between a health care provider and a patient.

This year’s recommendations are more restrictive than those of previous years, when guidelines encouraged nearly everyone 6 months and older to get the vaccine. The shift comes after health officials in May proposed more limited recommendations and after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of ACIP and selected their replacements.

In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the COVID-19 vaccines for people 65 and older and individuals 6 months to 64 years with underlying conditions that increase their risk of severe illness. According to a report from the Congressional Research Service, ACIP recommendations don’t always have to mirror FDA labeling.

AARP spoke with several leading experts to find out what adults 50 and older should know about COVID-19 vaccines this year. Here’s what we learned: 

These updated vaccines for the 2025-2026 season from Pfizer and Moderna are already in pharmacies and doctors’ offices throughout the country or making their way there, and an updated COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax is expected to be available in early fall, according to a spokesperson from Sanofi, the company that markets the vaccine.

Who is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine?

ACIP, the body that issues immunization guidelines for the American public, voted to recommend the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccines for:

• Adults 65 and older, in consultation with a health care provider
• People ages 6 months to 64 years, in consultation with a health care provider and “with an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk.”  

What health conditions increase your risk of severe COVID-19?

There is a long list of health conditions that the CDC says can increase a person’s risk of severe illness from a coronavirus infection. The list includes asthma, cancer, heart disease, obesity, physical inactivity, depression and smoking, among others.

“More than half of adults meet one of these conditions,” says Dr. Kawsar Talaat, an associate professor in the department of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Which is why the [previous] ACIP recommended universal vaccination — because half of people meet these conditions,” and nearly everyone knows someone who is at greater risk of complications if they get COVID-19, she says.

Where can I get a COVID vaccine?

While doctors’ offices are stocking the vaccine, about 90 percent of COVID-19 shots given in the U.S. during the 2024-2025 season were administered in pharmacies. The same is true for the 2023-2024 season, federal data shows.

Though this year’s recommendations are more restrictive, if adopted by the CDC, they should help clear up confusion many have faced in recent weeks when trying to get a vaccine at the pharmacy, due to varying state and store policies.

Will the vaccine be covered by insurance?

Vaccine recommendations made by ACIP and approved by the CDC are covered by most insurance plans at no cost-sharing. 

AHIP, a trade association of health insurance companies, had said that its members will “continue to cover all ACIP-recommended immunizations that were recommended as of September 1, 2025, including updated formulations of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, with no cost-sharing for patients through the end of 2026.”

If you’re concerned about insurance coverage, your pharmacist should be able to check it on the spot, so be sure to bring your insurance card, says Jigar Mehta, a pharmacist and manager of outpatient pharmacy operations at Beth Israel Lahey Health Pharmacy at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

What should older adults know?

People 75 and older have the highest risk of ending up in the hospital with COVID or COVID-related complications, Hopkins says. But they are not the only group at high risk.

Adults 50 to 64 are still at “substantially higher risk of hospitalization,” says Noel Brewer, a distinguished professor in public health and health behavior at the University of North Carolina. Roughly 94 percent of COVID deaths have been among adults 50 and older, according to CDC data.

Young children are also at increased risk, research shows.

Preliminary estimates from the CDC show that from Oct. 1, 2024, through June 7, 2025, there were between 270,000 and 440,000 hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the U.S. and between 32,000 and 51,000 deaths. The majority of adults hospitalized last year for COVID had not received the latest vaccine.

Studies suggest that COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide and have prevented many more hospitalizations. The risk of long COVID, which affects an estimated 400 million people globally, is also significantly reduced with the vaccine, research shows.

“Even people who have had COVID before and have had the vaccine before, if they’re not up to date on their boosters, they are at much higher risk for long COVID following an infection,” Wurtz says.

When should you get the vaccine?

The best time to get the fall COVID vaccine is now, Hopkins says. “Because across much of the country, COVID is widespread,” he says.

But if you’ve had a COVID vaccine recently or a COVID infection, you’ll want to wait about three or four months before getting another shot, Talaat says.

“Because you want to maximize the protection you get from each dose. And if you just got a dose a couple of months ago, you’re still quite protected,” she explains.

Concerned about side effects like fatigue, fever and chills? Consider switching brands if you’ve experienced them in the past, Brewer says. “It may be that there are COVID-19 vaccines that will be less reactogenic for those folks,” he says.

Don’t forget about other essential vaccines: In addition to the COVID vaccine, flu shots are recommended in September and October. The RSV vaccine is also recommended for adults 75 and older and people 50 to 74 with certain health conditions. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect new information. 

Rachel Nania is an award-winning health editor and writer at AARP.org, who covers a range of topics including diseases and treatments. 

It is estimated that every one in four Americans aged 65+ takes a fall every year in the United States (Centers for Disease Control). This number is significant considering that falls can be detrimental to the health, safety, and financial independence of the individual. The good news is that with increased awareness surrounding this issue both individuals and their loved ones can contribute to reducing the risk of falling and the serious impacts that may follow.

Every year in September, National Fall Prevention Awareness Month takes place. The purpose of fall prevention awareness is for organizations to share education on effective strategies for increasing mobility and strength, while also offering practical solutions for safety. It is also a great opportunity for individuals to reflect on their own risk factors or those of a loved one.

Why is Fall Prevention Important?

Fall prevention is a crucial step in avoiding serious injuries and hospital stays that can be costly to the individual’s bank account and mental health. According to the CDC, among older adults, falls can be life threatening and are the most common cause of non-fatal injuries and hospital admissions (Centers for Disease Control). Additionally, falls are associated with poor health outcomes and a sense of fear that can hinder independence, activity, and strength in older individuals.

However, falls are also preventable! Research shows that understanding risk factors and implementing fall prevention strategies into a daily routine can be extremely beneficial. There are several effective fall prevention programs and toolkits available for older adults and their loved ones. Check out some of these resources which cover both individuals and community-based strategies!

• Falls Prevention Resources for Older Adults and Caregivers | ACL Administration for Community Living
• Patient & Caregiver Resources | STEADI – Older Adult Fall Prevention | CDC Injury Center
• Preventing Falls: How to Develop Community-based Fall Prevention Programs for Older Adults (cdc.gov)

Understanding Risk Factors

It is important to note that falls are not inevitable in older age, but the risk is greater. Therefore, understanding risk factors becomes increasingly important. Risk factors are defined as something that increases a person’s chance of falling.  A risk factor can be biological, behavioral, or environmental and some individuals may experience multiple kinds of risk factors at once. Understanding what defines a risk can be the first crucial step in reducing falls in older adulthood. Below is a short list compiled by the Centers for Disease Control, on common types of risk factors.

Strategies for Fall Prevention

Currently the National Council on Aging offers six steps that can help prevent a fall.

• Find an exercise program that can help build strength and flexibility. Some ideas include heel lifts, toe lifts, sit to stand, wall push-ups, and leg lifts (https://agesafeamerica.com/september-national-falls-preventionmonth/).
• Speak to a health care provider to understand the risk of falling.
• Regularly review medications with a doctor/pharmacist to understand the side effects.
• Get both hearing and vision checked annually.
• Reduce tripping hazards at home.
• Enlist the support of family and friends.

During Fall Prevention Month I encourage you to learn more about fall prevention and to be an advocate for either yourself or a loved one.

It is never too late to make steps towards improving balance and mitigating risk factors. Additionally, remember that fall prevention can reduce financial burden and injuries, increase independence, and can even save a life!

reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network

The five Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in Maine serve as “one-stop-shops” to answer questions from older adults, individuals with disabilities and their care partners about a wide range of in-home, community-based, and institutional services.

Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are experts at answering questions about in-home care services and other types of long-term support. Maine’s five AAAs are also Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) that:

·     provide information and assistance to individuals needing either public or private long-term care resources;

·     serve professionals seeking assistance on behalf of their clients’ long-term care needs;

·     serve individuals planning for their future long-term care needs;

·     serve as the entry point to publicly-administered long-term supports including those funded under Medicaid, the Older Americans Act and state-funded programs.

Maine’s Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) are designed to serve all older adults, people with disabilities and their care partners who have long-term care community or program needs. To see which center serves your area, visit the Office of Aging and Disability Services’ website.