Make Sure Your Elderly Loved Ones are Equipped to Avoid Scams

A newly released FBI 2021 Elder Fraud Report, found cybercrimes were up 62% from 2020, resulting in reported losses of almost $3 billion. The FBI says most likely the loss was even higher as many victims are reluctant to report such crimes. The Federal Trade Commission supports this with statistics showing 44% of younger people in their 20's reported losing money to fraud but only 20% of those in their 70's did so.

Experts say the increase in fraud is partly due to the increase in digital financial transactions and seniors’ lack of sophistication with technology. The pandemic and seniors’ isolation also played a part as did the variety of methods and schemes utilized. The elderly are scammed in a number of ways including phishing through phone calls, emails, social media messages and fraudulent shopping schemes.

“Grandparent schemes” often involve texts sent supposedly from a relative requesting money be wired to help with a medical emergency or another event requiring immediate attention. The fraudsters obtain the names of family members from Facebook and other social media to prey upon their emotions.

To help elderly relatives protect themselves, experts recommend helping them set their social media accounts to private and reminding them to limit the amount of information they share online. Tell them to be wary about any request for money in texts or emails regardless of who they appear to be from. If they question whether a text is really from a family member, block it and call the person instead.

To deter fraud, use strong passwords or fingerprints, and two- factor authentication. When purchasing online, check to see if it is a secure network. You should see a padlock in the front of the address bar usually followed by “https.” Avoid Wi-Fi hot spots and use a VPN service to block your identity.

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Source: usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/09/18/cybercrime-cost-american-seniors-3-billion-last-year-62-jump/10420029002/