The number of older adults who report losing over 100,000 to fraud has more than tripled since 2020.
Transcript:
CONWAY GITTENS: The Federal Trade Commission recently came out with a report, the number of older Americans who report losing more than $100,000 in one year to fraud has more than tripled since 2020. Just how big of a deal is this?
MARK HAMRICK: Well, it’s a very big deal. You think about the collective losses that let’s just say our country suffers, and then the huge personal impacts that these scams can have on individuals, households and families. And the problem really is that as we all say, celebrate, and utilize technology tools. We’re using comparable tools for the purpose of this interview. It also has facilitated a kind of ease for the fraudsters, the robbers and the like. And so in that we are all connected electronically. This has opened up new methods, vehicles, and efficiencies for those who want to part us from our money.
CONWAY GITTENS: So what are some of the factors driving this increase in financial scams? is just the rise of the internet?
MARK HAMRICK: Yeah, that’s the primary method. Whether it is, first of all, believe it or not, email or text messages, those are the top two mechanisms with which or by which people are falling prey to these scams. And the third one is still the good old fashioned phone call. Of course, one of the most prized possessions we all have is our mobile phone. Maybe some people, a small fraction, including the elderly, have landlines, but it is ultimately the ways that we communicate and the tools that we communicate with that are helping to facilitate these scams. And let’s just think about how much we’re all inundated with these attempts to steal from us, constantly getting text messages and emails, many of which, if we’re fortunate and used the technology in a favorable way. Having those go to our spam folders.
But the problem is a couple of things. Number one, as a society, we have many people who are digital natives, those who grew up with these technology tools. And then you have people who are more senior, who were analog creatures now living in the digital age. And many of them are not as let’s say, literate with the use of technology as their younger cohorts. Obviously, there are plenty of people who are more senior who are really on top of their games, but it just turns out that there are also perhaps more trusting, not as suspicious as they need to be when someone is posing as a company executive or a government official or something like that, where there is going to be an attempt to take their money or get access to their personal information.
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