Why are Older People Vulnerable to Scams?
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Elderly people constitute the vast majority of fraud victims. What makes them so attractive? Well, from the bad guy’s perspective, the elderly are more likely:
- Isolated
- Home in the daytime
- Trusting
- Dependent on others
- Fearful of repercussions
- Self-blaming
- Having an attractive nest egg of retirement and social security
- Too polite and trusting
- Perceived as poor witnesses
While we understand what draws scammers to the elderly, there is no general profile for a scam victim. It appears, however, that susceptibility is largely situational to victims’ personal circumstances. Thus, for example, an older person living with remedies may not feel he or she pulls their weight in terms of income. Such people may fall prey to investment or work-from-home scams. People with chronic or incurable illnesses make good targets for medical or “miracle cure” scams.
Some things we do know:
- Elderly individuals tend to be more socially isolated, especially after the loss of a loved one. They become vulnerable to scammers because they are willing to let others in, even if only for conversations sake. Current research indicates people are more likely to be victimized if isolated and lacking someone to discuss an investment proposal with. Elderly scam victims are less likely to be married and more likely to be widowed or divorced. Sadly, fraud victimization seems to go hand in hand with social isolation—whether involuntary or voluntary. Common scams can range from Ponzi schemes to identity theft. Fraudsters often strike during times a senior's life may be more vulnerable, like a health crisis or after the death of a loved one. Scammers gather personal details from obituaries and social media posts and use this information to target their victims. Some also may attempt to exploit trust within seniors' social and support groups to become more involved in their lives.
- A lack of understanding rapid technological changes makes it more difficult and complicated for the elderly, and many victims may not even realize that they’ve somehow allowed their funds to be depleted. Increase in the online presence of senior citizens steadily increases.
Generally, they have more difficulty orienting themselves to the Net than younger adults because it is a technology that simply did not exist while they were growing up. Without proper knowledge of common Internet scams and how to safely browse the Internet, many elderly individuals fall prey to predators.
- Experts once believed that very trusting people would be inclined to believe others generally, putting themselves at a higher level of risk. More recent studies found no significant relation between trust and victimization. They suggest that highly trusting people may be better at differentiating between trustworthy and untrustworthy others, and also assess a given transaction by other factors such as fairness.
The Trust factor therefore remains inconclusive at this point, but healthy skepticism and critical thinking are never out-of-place. As one writer put it: “As Abraham Lincoln once said: ‘Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.’”
- As old age approaches, there is a significant increase in conditions or disabilities which affect one’s memory. Forgetfulness or other cognitive impairments make a person more susceptible to financial exploitation. Most seniors don't have cognitive impairment or dementia. In fact a recent study indicates that the prevalence of cognitive impairment has actually declined in America. Symptoms of mild cognitive impairment can include losing items, forgetting to do things or go to appointments, or struggling to come up with words. A loss of smell and taste and movement issues can also be symptoms. People with mild cognitive impairment are fully capable of taking care of themselves, and not everyone with mild cognitive impairment goes on to develop dementia. Lifestyle, overall health, education, medication and other factors all figure into the mix. Victimization by a fraudster does not mean Mom has “lost it” or “is losing it.” In fact, jumping to that conclusion is just what the scammers count on.