Blog > The Rising Trend of Scams Targeting Senior Citizens in India
The Rising Trend of Scams Targeting Senior Citizens in India
As technology keeps growing, many elderly people find it hard to keep up with modern updates. This weakness has been well utilized by scammers to target senior citizens and scam them out of their hard-earned money.
Due to the limited digital literacy of senior citizens, they end up being the most vulnerable prey for scammers to cheat, making them their primary target.
According to a report from Safer Internet India, there has been a surge of 86% on scams targeting senior citizens between 2020 and 2022.
Naive and Unsuspecting – Elderly individuals trust easily, often falling for scammers polite language and good intent. They rarely question anything and act blindly, following their instructions.
Potential Financial Stability – Senior citizens often appear financially stable due to their lifetime savings, pensions, and government benefits, making them a low risk but high price target.
Digital illiteracy – Most old people have not yet adapted to the digital world. They are still unaware of how to use tech products or how they work, and this makes them vulnerable to scams.
Emotional Manipulation –Scammers exploit elderly people's love and fear to manipulate them by creating a sense of panic, urgency and sympathy to make them act without thinking.
Low reporting rates –Most Elderly people tend to be reluctant to report any scams they fall for due to their fear of embarrassment. Many scams go unreported because of this.
Impersonation scams:
- Scammers post as someone trustworthy or someone who is in authority like a policeman, or a bank officer.
- It includes scams such as imposter scams, fake website scams, and Charity scams. These scams always build trust first and make it look as close as to the real identity to fool people.
Emotional scams:
- These scams involve making elderly people panic into making a decision by using fake relatives, fake romantic partners, fake emergency situations etc., and manipulating emotions like fear, anxiety, loneliness, and love.
Phishing scams:
- Phishing scams are one of the most common scams that elderly people quickly fall for.
- It can be an advertisement or a message notifying them to make changes to their device to prevent any issues. When they explore the ad or the message, their device will be hacked.
Investment scams:
- These scams promise people wealth in terms of high returns, or through a chance of luck.
- Fake forged online documents of property, Fake lottery games, Fake investment schemes are some of the common Investment scams that old people fall for repeatedly.
Health and Welfare Scams:
- Scammers exploit the growing health concerns of old people and manipulate them into opting for useless health insurance plans and fake medical schemes.
- Some even offer an all-cure fake medical product that promises miraculous cures to grab their attention as well as their money.
- They often involve high pressure sales strategy as well as unfounded health claims.
Financial scams continue to target older adults, taking advantage of their trust and kindness. It’s our responsibility to educate them, raise awareness, and help them stay protected. Encourage them to use devices and teach them how to use them and learn more from them.
Always check-in on them once in a while; a simple visit can prevent a well-elaborated scam. If you ever come across a scam, don’t hesitate to report it.
By keeping our elders informed, aware and connected, we can build a safe and secure modern era for them.
Let’s safeguard the generation that raised us!