Anyone who uses the internet can become a victim of online scams or frauds. However, there’s no denying that scammers prefer to seek out and target elderly victims. After those aged 30-39, those 65+ were the second most targeted group by online fraudsters in 2022. On top of that, the older the victim of a scam, the more money they’re likely to lose. In 2021, fraud victims aged 60+ lost a combined total of over $1 billion.
Combine all that with the fact that elderly victims are far less likely to report losses after being scammed, and it becomes clear just how vulnerable elderly individuals can be online. In this article, we’ll get into the reasons why scammers target the elderly, how you can spot a scammer in the act, and how to avoid becoming their victim.
Why Do Scammers Target the Elderly?
Anyone active online is at risk of being scammed, but the elderly pose easy targets for scammers. It’s not uncommon for the elderly to become targets of exploitation offline, too. Here are some of the reasons why:
Accumulated Wealth - Senior citizens have had their whole lives to save up, pay off debts, and raise their credit scores. Scammers are well aware of this and will target elderly individuals to get access to this wealth. A common tactic for scammers is to gather a senior’s personal and financial information, then take advantage of their high credit score to open a credit account and rack up debt.
Digital Illiteracy - Those who grew up with the internet also grew up learning how to spot and avoid dangerous situations online. It takes time and practice to know when something isn’t right, and many senior citizens don’t have this experience. If a scammer claims to be a helpful presence, elderly people are much more likely to defer to their expertise. Scammers know this and will often complex jargon to confuse and intimidate seniors.
Trusting Nature - Many senior citizens grew up in a time when scams were much rarer, and to accuse someone of lying mid-conversation would be incredibly impolite. Scammers know that elderly individuals are much less likely to realize they are being scammed and push back. As long as they put on a convincing performance, fraudsters often don’t have to worry about their elderly target doubting their legitimacy.
Emotional Vulnerability - Many elderly people live alone or rely on others to help them navigate challenges. If they believe something bad is going to happen because of them, or someone is hurt and needs help, they’re much more likely to do what a scammer tells them. Online fraudsters commonly employ emotional manipulation, and they know it’s often more successful with elderly targets.
How Can You Recognize Scammers?
Knowing how to spot scammers involves learning their techniques. Once you know how scammers operate, you’ll be able to see the warning signs of a scam and cut off contact. Here are some common tactics used by online scammers when targeting the elderly:
- Unwanted Contact
Nine times out of ten, scammers will contact you out of the blue. Random phone calls, emails, or texts should always be treated with caution. Remember, you can’t be scammed if you don’t speak to the scammer. However, the scams that are hardest to spot are those wherein you made the first move. For example, romance scammers, who create fake profiles on dating sites, may wait for you to send the first message to gain your trust. Even if you reach out first, always be on your guard for suspicious signs of scams.
- Secrecy
Scammers will often tell you that you shouldn’t involve any other individuals in your correspondence with them. This is because scammers know those third parties are likely to tell you it’s a scam, meaning they’ll lose out. Any attempt to keep you silent or stop you from seeking help from a trusted friend or family member is almost certainly a sign of a scam. Involving a third party can help you spot these fraud attempts and nip them in the bud.
- Emotional Engineering
Scammers will try everything from flattering you to frightening you to get you to pay up. They know that you’re much more likely to make rash decisions if you think something very good or very bad is going to happen. This is why they will often manufacture an emergency to convince you that acting fast is vital. It’s important to keep a level head when speaking to anyone who has contacted you out of the blue. Remember, you can always cease contact and take time to think it over.
- Threats
Similarly to emotional manipulation, scammers may tell you that if you do not cooperate with them, you’ll be in breach of the law, or may suffer other legal/financial consequences. Scammers know that fear is the best motivator and will cloud your judgment, so they have no problem frightening you to keep you talking. Any legitimate official from a business or organization will never behave threateningly when talking with you.
- Unusual Payment Methods
Conducting a successful scam is all about gaining a potential victim’s trust. This is why scammers may tell you that they’re not after your personal information or a traditional transfer of funds. Instead, you may be asked to provide payment via pre-paid cards such as gift cards. This protects the scammer, as it means the funds provided cannot be tracked or ‘recalled’ by your bank. Any request to pay for a product or service with a non-traditional payment method is a sign of a scam.
Scams You May Fall Victim To and How to Avoid Them
Since elderly people are common targets for scammers, many scams are tailored to this age group. Here are the most common online fraud attempts against those 60+ and how to avoid them.
Family Emergency
Scammers often pretend to be someone else to seem legitimate and gain your trust. These are known as impostor scams. In the case of family emergency scams, fraudsters will pose as a close family member or law enforcement official, and inform you that there is an emergency. Perhaps your grandchild is stuck in another part of the city and desperately needs money to pay for the bus. These scams are incredibly dangerous as they will scare you, convince you that acting fast is vital, and will even use real information, such as your family member’s name, gathered online. This makes family emergency scams very difficult to spot.
To avoid falling victim to a family emergency scam, always loop in another member of your family to verify that the situation is real. Check exact phone numbers to make sure your records match up with the individual who has contacted you. If the scammer is posing as a law enforcement official, tell them you will call their official line. Any genuine contact will be happy for you to do this. After all, even in an emergency, your family will know you may need to take some time to think. If the person on the other end of the call tries to force you to keep talking to them, it’s often confirmation that they are trying to scam you.
Government or Business Scams
Similar to family emergency scams, government or business scams are kinds of impostor scams. The fraudster will pose as an official individual from a legitimate organization, such as your bank, a delivery service, the IRS, Medicare, your internet provider, your device manufacturer, or an insurance company, to name only a few. These scams are hard to spot, as scammers have the technology to ‘spoof’ phone numbers - this means the call may appear to be coming from a genuine source. These scammers may not even be after money, they may simply want to gain sensitive personal information such as your address or social security number.
Official organizations will seldom reach out to you with a cold call, email, or text message, especially to tell you there is an emergency. This means any random call from a government organization or company should be treated with caution. To avoid these impostor scams, note down the individual’s name. You can call the organization they claim to be working for and ask them to check their employee data and verify that that person works there. Or, you may simply like to inform the individual that you will call back on their official line (which can be found on the organization’s website). Remember, any attempt to stop you from hanging up or verifying information is a sign of a scam.
Investment Scams
Knowing you likely have some money saved for a rainy day, scammers will offer you fake investment opportunities with promises of huge returns. Fraudsters may also tell you that there is very little risk involved with this investment. Any genuine financial advisor will tell you that no investment is 100% risk-free, so a promise of profit should be treated with caution. Scammers may even play the long game, and rope you in with a ‘successful’ investment the first time around, to convince you to offer a larger sum of money. Finally, although it’s not technically an investment, scammers may pose as an individual collecting for a charity, looking for a sizable donation for a worthy cause that doesn’t exist.
Individuals looking to invest their savings will almost always reach out to those with an investment opportunity first. Cold calls from those with promising projects or stock portfolios should be treated with caution. As always, it’s best to get a third party, such as a trusted family member, accountant, or lawyer, involved if you’re considering investing. These individuals will be able to tell you if the investment looks suspicious. To add to this, any genuine investment advisor must be registered with the SEC. Contact them at (800) SEC-0330 or (202) 551-6551 to verify a potential scammer’s information.
Lottery Scams
These scams operate by convincing you you’ve won money or a prize for a competition you did not enter. However, when you contact the scammer to claim your prize, they’ll inform you that you can only claim your winnings after you’ve handed over your card details, or even paid an up-front fee. If you do pay, the scammer will simply lead you along, telling you there are delays and you need to pay even more money to receive your winnings. Lottery scams most commonly take place over email, or through paid advertisements on unsecured sites. However, scammers may also attempt to conduct lottery scams over the phone, by text message, or through paper mail.
If you haven’t knowingly entered a competition, you should be wary of any prize you’ve won. This is especially true if you are informed of this prize out of the blue by someone who has never contacted you before. These prizes are almost always ‘too good to be true’, and it’s best to just block the sender and cease all contact. If you do believe it to be a genuine prize, never pay any money upfront to ‘release’ your winnings, and never give your bank account details to anonymous contacts on the internet.
In Conclusion…
Senior citizens are potentially lucrative targets for scammers as they have accumulated wealth and are generally more trusting. Scammers will use both praise and threats to emotionally engineer situations in which elderly people are vulnerable to fraud. They will scare or threaten seniors without a second thought if they believe there’s a payday at the end of it. If you are contacted out of the blue, and the person contacting you tries to keep you on the phone, speaks to you in an unprofessional manner, or requests payment for a service you don’t want or need through unusual means such as gift cards, it’s best to put down the phone or delete the email.
Family emergency scams, imposter scams, and lottery scams are some of the most common fraud attempts made against elderly individuals. If you feel you are being scammed, make sure to get a trusted family member or friend involved for a second opinion. If you do fall victim to a scam, you can report it here and help protect others.
Sources
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/587388/fraud-complaints-victims-age-in-the-us/
- https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2021_IC3Report.pdf
- https://nclegalcounsel.com/why-do-scammers-target-the-elderly/
- https://www.comparitech.com/identity-theft-protection/senior-scam-statistics/
- https://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/six_signs.pdf
- https://fccu.org/blog/2020/07/10-tactics-scammers-use
- https://www.sec.gov/help/foiadocsinvafoia
- https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org/blog/10-tips-to-protect-seniors-from-being-scammed
- https://www.aura.com/learn/senior-citizen-scams
- https://ncoa.org/article/top-5-financial-scams-targeting-older-adults/
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