Covid and technological advances have created a perfect storm of fraud for older Americans.
Between 2019 and 2023, the number of fraud cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission doubled to 2.6 million. But the losses of these scams tripled to $10 billion, indicating that scams are becoming more and more effective.
“Today’s scams are more coordinated, more complex and more personalized,” TIAA executive vice president Ray Bellucci said in a new report on fraud.
The elderly have long been more vulnerable to fraud due to high social distancing rates, which have increased during Kuved. This is especially true if they are divorced, single or widowed, and no one can talk about what happened to them. But new and unfamiliar technologies also exploit their vulnerability, which induce them to transfer credit card information, bank accounts, and social security numbers.
When these factors are combined with the decline in cognitive abilities of the oldest Americans, they can lead to growing losses since the pandemic. According to the TIAA Institute, the average loss of scams is that people over 60 reported to the FBI (probably the worst case) to the FBI, reaching $34,000 in 2023, up from $9,175 in the first year of Covid.
The danger of this age group is that successful scams threaten financial insurance, just like people approaching retirement age or having retired and having a tight budget.
The most common type of fraud is a phone call seeking personal information from a person who claims to be a trusted organization in an email or call. The government’s alleged call for prosecution from the IRS, Social Security or Consumer Financial Protection Agency has since soared during the pandemic and has since faded but has not disappeared. According to FTC data in the TIAA Institute report, retail and other private sector impostors that are now soaring during Covid are a bigger threat. (The institute supports the retirement research center that funded this blog.)
Deep hits imitating the voices of relatives or colleagues are also used to obtain information from older people. Scammers are learning to use social media and AI to search the internet for personal details about the individuals they can use when they are targeting.
“These technical tools shocked officials because AI-enhanced scams are hard for consumers to identify them as fakes,” the TIAA Institute said.
Data from FTC reported fraud losses suggest that Americans are more vulnerable. According to the TIAA Institute, people over the age of 70 reported fraud losses three times higher than those reported by young people.
Fortunately, the researchers found some success in preventing fraud. In an effective experiment, fraud is identified by exposing fraud to simulated scams on email platforms.
However, this approach to preventing fraud and other technology-based approaches, such as complex passwords or account monitors, is difficult to implement on a large scale and may not match the elderly.
Technology is moving forward at lightning speed. Confronting and protecting consumers will be a huge challenge.
Kim Blanton, a writer from the square, invites you to follow us @squaredawaybc On X. To stay on our blog, join in Our free email list. You will receive an email every week – a week’s post link – Register here. This blog is supported by the Boston College Retirement Research Center.
