A survey and study found that a simple fraudulent phone call pretending to be "official" directly defrauded 12 percent of the elderly into having "verification codes" for their bank cards and personal accounts.
With the progress of society and the development of science and technology, cyber fraud, financial fraud and other criminal methods are increasingly renovated, among which government impersonation fraud has become a major threat to the property safety of the elderly. A new study suggests that older adults may be more vulnerable to this type of scam than we thought.
The experiment, conducted by the Chicago Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in partnership with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Investor Education Foundation, took a more realistic approach to government impersonation scams in the hope of achieving more realistic results. The study included 644 older adults with an average age of 85 in the Rush Memory and Aging Project who received a call from a fictitious government agency claiming unusual activity in their Social Security and Medicare accounts and the need to verify personal information.
The researchers divided older participants' responses to scams into three categories: no interaction (no answer or return call), with interaction (answering or calling back but showing suspicion and not providing personal information), and conversion (answering or calling back without apparent suspicion or providing personal information). The majority of participants did not interact with the scammer (68.5%), however, among those who answered or returned the call, the proportion of those who answered or returned the call directly without suspicion (16.4%) was higher than that of those who remained skeptical (15.1%), and worryingly, about 12% of participants provided sensitive personal information.
When comparing and analyzing the characteristics of participants with different coping types, the researchers found that there were significant differences in cognitive ability, financial literacy, and fraud prevention awareness. Those older adults who interacted but remained skeptical scored the highest on cognitive ability and financial literacy tests, and the group had the fewest numbers with dementia. In contrast, the elderly who fall into the trap of "conversion" have the lowest awareness of fraud prevention.
Although the generalizability of these results to a wider older population may be limited because the study's predominantly white women are highly educated, it also means that in real life, more seniors may fall prey to scams in the face of more sophisticated scams and less educated older age groups. When dementia patients were excluded, the difference in cognitive ability and financial literacy was no longer statistically significant, but the fraud prevention awareness in the "conversion" group was still the lowest.
Characteristics and methods of official impersonation fraud
It is a common and serious form of fraud in which fraudsters carefully disguise themselves as government officials or authorized representatives to contact potential victims through a variety of means of communication, such as phone calls, emails, text messages, and even social media DMs. They usually use the following techniques:
- Authoritative identity packaging: Fraudsters will claim to be from government departments such as the Social Security Administration, the Tax Bureau, the Health Insurance Bureau, or law enforcement agencies, creating an image of official authority and instinctively creating awe and obedience among victims.
- Emergency-making: They will fabricate urgent reasons, such as compromised accounts, suspected illegal activity, and imminent disqualification of benefits, to prompt victims to make decisions in a short period of time, reducing their time for thought and verification.
- Information Harvesting Spoofing: Fraudsters will ask victims for personal information, including but not limited to sensitive data such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, and credit card numbers, under the pretext of verifying information or solving problems.
- Funds transfer inducements: Once trusted, fraudsters will further induce victims to transfer money under the pretense that it is to avoid losses or go through some kind of procedure, and sometimes pretend to give bonuses or subsidies to induce victims to pay a processing fee.
Why older people are more susceptible
The reason why older people are more likely to be targeted by government impersonation scams can be understood from several perspectives:
- High level of trust in the authorities: Older people generally have a high level of trust in the authorities, which makes it difficult for them to identify fraud by impersonating people.
- Psychological and physiological changes: As they age, the cognitive function of the elderly may gradually decline, especially in the ability to process information and logical reasoning, which makes it difficult for them to quickly identify fraud in the face of complex social information.
- Social loneliness and information blockage: Many elderly people, especially those who live alone, have a small social circle and limited access to information, and often cannot keep abreast of the latest fraud methods and anti-fraud knowledge.
- Unfamiliarity with emerging technologies: With the development of Internet technology, many fraud cases have shifted to online platforms, and many elderly people are not proficient enough in electronic devices and network applications to effectively distinguish online fraud information.
Cognitive and financial literacy effects
Cognitive decline can affect the understanding and judgment of information in older adults, resulting in them being unable to properly assess risk when faced with scams. At the same time, the lack of financial literacy makes it difficult for them to distinguish between legitimate financial services and fraud, and they are prone to believe in so-called investment opportunities or preferential services. With both of these factors working together, seniors may leak important information or hand over money to fraudsters without much thought.
Preventive measures and coping strategies
Anti-deception education for the elderly should be diversified and targeted:
- Community education and popularization: Through regular community lectures, training courses and other forms, the elderly are taught anti-fraud knowledge, typical fraud cases are explained, and their awareness of prevention is raised.
- Assistance from family members: Strengthen communication within the family, children and relatives should inform the elderly of the latest fraud methods in a timely manner, and help them install anti-fraud software, set up call interception and other functions.
- Technology-assisted protection: Promote smart products and services suitable for the elderly, such as easy-to-use smartphone apps and intelligent voice assistants, which can warn of potential fraud risks in a timely manner.
- Media and public service advertising: Use traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers, as well as new media such as WeChat and short videos, to widely disseminate anti-fraud information.
参考文献：Yu L, et al. Vulnerability of older adults to government impersonation scams. JAMA Network Open. 2023. Epub Sept. 22. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.35319.