Given the recent computer hacking of the Equifax credit monitoring system, all of us need to be at heightened alert over identity theft or financial fraud perpetrated on us. For seniors, this is especially true, as confirmed in a recent survey done by the Cooperative Credit Union Association. In this survey,  2/3 of caretakers reported that a scammer had attempted to defraud a senior relative, most often by either phone call or email. What’s especially worrisome is that the Equifax breach included birth dates and driver’s license numbers, so it would be easy to target seniors with this stolen information. Read more about this survey and measures to protect an aging loved one by clicking Here. And for those of you who have been worried about giving out your social security number and wonder why we don’t have a better system for keeping our identities secure, your concerns are well founded- it’s a broken system with no easy solutions. Read more about the history of social security numbers, and the challenges of replacing them, Here.