How to help clients spot scam letters, for financial advisors serving retirees, in 2026

Q: Is Postal Buddy free for older people?

Postal Buddy says the older person's side is free forever. Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day trial that needs no card when the first helper joins. The older person does not have to sign in, while the people helping them do. Check the current price on the Postal Buddy website before you decide.

A step by step way for financial advisors serving retirees to help clients spot scam letters, what to gather, and tools that can help.

By CleverDings · 2026-10-26

CleverDings is published by the makers of Benefit Buddy, Postal Buddy and Packing Buddy, which are compared here alongside other apps.

Agree a routine with your client, check each letter's sender and any request for money against contacts you already hold, and hold anything urgent until it has been confirmed.

Option	What it does	Cost
Postal Buddy	Tells an older person, in big print and out loud, what each letter they photograph is. ^[1]	The older person's side is free forever; Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year. ^[1]
Your client's bank or brokerage	Not published here; ask whether it has a fraud or security team and how to reach it.	Not published
Local fraud or consumer protection office	Not published here; check what kinds of scam it accepts reports on.	Not published
Your firm's own review process	Not published here; write down the steps your practice follows for suspicious mail.	Not published

What you need before you start

Most of the work is agreeing on a routine before a suspicious letter arrives. Having the basics in one place means you are not improvising when a letter with urgent wording turns up.

Who handles the mail. Name the family member, helper or caregiver who opens your client's post, and confirm that your client wants that person involved.
Your client's usual senders. List the banks, insurers, pension administrators, tax agencies and utilities that write to your client, with the phone numbers printed on past statements.
Permission. Your client should agree in writing to how letters are reviewed and who may see them.
Accounts that matter. Keep a list of the bank, brokerage and retirement accounts you manage, so a letter asking about account details can be checked against it.
Copies of recent letters. Keep copies or photos of letters already received, so a new one can be compared with them.

Do not copy full account numbers or Social Security numbers into notes or chats. Keep them with the institution or on paper.

Step by step

Set the routine. Agree with your client which letters get a second look: any request for money, personal details or passwords, any payment by gift card or wire, and any deadline that pushes for a quick reply.
Read the sender, not the greeting. Check whether the name, address and phone number match the contact details you already hold. A letter that threatens arrest or account closure needs more checking, not less.
Call a number you already have. Use the number from a past statement or the institution's official site, never the number printed on the letter.
Look for pressure. Requests to act today, to keep the matter secret, or to pay in an unusual way are common warning signs.
Compare the amount and the due date. Check a bill against the usual amount and billing cycle. A sudden jump, or a due date with no matching statement, is worth a call.
Hold the letter. Keep the original and a copy until it has been checked. Do not pay or reply on the spot.
Record what you found. Note the date, the sender, what was asked, and who you spoke to.
Explain it to your client plainly. Say what the letter asked, what you checked and what you did, in words your client can repeat to others.
Report a suspected scam. Share it with the institution it appears to come from, and with the fraud or consumer protection office in your area.
Review the routine every few months. Scam letters change in style and topic, so the checklist should change with them.

Tools that can do it

Several kinds of help fit this job. Pick based on how much your client wants to handle alone and whether a person should review each letter.

Your client's bank or brokerage. Ask whether it has a fraud or security team and how to reach it. Ask what it checks before acting on a request.

A local fraud or consumer protection office. Check what kinds of scam it accepts reports on and how to file one.

Your firm's own review process. Write down the steps your practice follows for suspicious mail, and check whether those steps are in writing.

Postal Buddy. Postal Buddy is made by the team that publishes this site. Postal Buddy is an app that tells an older person, in big print and out loud, what each letter they photograph is. ^[1] The app can read the explanation out loud. ^[1] For a bill, it shows the sender, the amount and the due date. ^[1] For a suspected scam, Postal Buddy says not to pay or call the number on it, and it never calls a letter safe. ^[1] Plus includes alerts for a scam asking for money, a bill about to go overdue, a government letter, or a bill that jumped. ^[1] Plus adds a Monday email on what needs doing, what was caught and what changed. ^[1] The older person does not have to sign in, while the people helping them do. ^[1] Its web scam check is free and needs no account. ^[1] It tells you what looks wrong and says nothing is kept. ^[1] You can try a demo with a made-up family without an account. ^[1] Postal Buddy says the older person's side is free forever. ^[1] Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year. ^[1] The app is made for phones and the web. ^[1] A web app is listed, but the Postal Buddy website says 'Opening soon'. ^[1]

Common mistakes to avoid

Replying to the number on the letter. Call the number you already hold, because the one printed on a suspicious letter may lead to the sender of the scam.
Paying under pressure. Hold any bill until it has been checked against a statement you trust.
Trusting the greeting. A personal name or a familiar logo does not confirm who sent the letter.
Losing the original. Keep originals together so they can be shown to the institution or the authorities later.
Letting one person decide. Agree in advance who reviews letters and who is told about each one.
Skipping your client's account of the letter. Ask what the letter said and whether your client has already replied or paid.
Forgetting to record. Write down dates, names and reference numbers for every call and report.

Frequently asked questions

Where should financial advisors start when helping clients spot scam letters?

Start by agreeing a routine with your client: which letters get a second look, who reviews them, and who is told. Then check each letter's sender against a phone number you already hold, treat any request for money or personal details as a reason to pause, and hold urgent letters until they have been confirmed. Keep a short record of what you checked and when.

What should be ready before reviewing a client's letters?

Have a written agreement with your client about how letters are reviewed, a list of the accounts you manage, the phone numbers for their usual senders taken from past statements, and copies of recent letters for comparison. Keep full account numbers and Social Security numbers with the institution or on paper, not in notes or chats.

Can Postal Buddy tell a client whether a letter is a scam?

For a suspected scam, Postal Buddy says not to pay or call the number on it, and it never calls a letter safe. ^[1] For a bill, it shows the sender, the amount and the due date. ^[1] Your client still decides what to do, and a letter that asks for money should be checked by calling a number you already hold.

Is Postal Buddy free for older people?

Postal Buddy says the older person's side is free forever. ^[1] Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day trial that needs no card when the first helper joins. ^[1] The older person does not have to sign in, while the people helping them do. ^[1] Check the current price on the Postal Buddy website before you decide.

Can Postal Buddy be tried before signing up?

You can try a demo with a made-up family without an account. ^[1] Postal Buddy's web scam check is free and needs no account. ^[1] It tells you what looks wrong and says nothing is kept. ^[1] Use the demo or the web check to see how a letter is explained before you rely on a routine.

Postal Buddy says the senior's side is free forever; Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a 30-day Plus trial and no card needed when the first helper joins. ^[1]

Try Postal Buddy

Sources

Postal Buddy's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)