Why are the elderly so gullible?

[Tin Pot]

Some interesting fraud stats from ONS

What is known about the nature and circumstances of fraud?
Analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) experimental statistics on fraud and computer misuse revealed additional information about the nature of such incidents:

The large majority of victims of fraud had been a victim only once (84%), although repeat victimisation (within the same 12 month crime reference period) was more common among victims of bank and credit account fraud (14%) than other types of fraud (Experimental table E9).
Almost two-thirds of fraud incidents involved initial loss of money or goods to the victim (62%), independent of any reimbursement received1. This equates to an estimated 2.3 million offences, compared with 1.4 million incidents of fraud involving no loss.
Victims received a full reimbursement in 43% of fraud incidents (1.6 million), typically from their financial provider. In 690,000 cases, the victim received no or only partial reimbursement (Experimental table E5).
Where money was taken or stolen from the victim, in just under two-thirds of incidents the victim lost less than £250 (64%) (Experimental table E6).
Incidents of bank and credit account fraud were more likely to result in initial loss to the victim (70%, equivalent to 1.7 million) than other types of fraud. In the majority of these incidents, the victim received a full reimbursement (84%).
In 49% of non-investment frauds (such as fraud related to online shopping scams or fraudulent computer service calls) and 76% of all other frauds (for example, lottery scams, pyramid or Ponzi schemes2 or charity fraud) there was no loss to the victim. This compares to 30% of incidents of bank and credit account fraud where no loss was suffered.
With regard to computer misuse, 22% of incidents involved loss of money or goods, all relating to computer viruses (442,000 incidents)3.
The extent of cyber crimes4 varied by type of offence. As expected, almost all computer misuse offences (97%) involved the use of the internet in some way (compared to 3% where the internet was not involved), while it was reported to have been involved in less than half of all bank and credit account frauds (43%) (Experimental table E12).
Among cyber crimes, bank and credit account frauds were more likely to involve the use of the internet in some way (56%) than non-investment frauds (40%) or advance fee frauds (4%).

 

[Tin Pot]

No baseline population stats but...

 

[DaveReading]

Get her a BT dect phone that blocks nuisance calls so that strange people can't ring her so easily.

In my experience, that's the single most effective thing you can do.

Most scammers phone you rather than knocking on your door or writing to you. For about £30-£40 you can get a phone which allows you to store numbers for friends, family, etc and then every other call gets sent straight to the answerphone.

For some reason, scammers never get that far, and if you're in when a new, genuine caller rings you will hear as they leave a message and can pick up at that point, or call them back.

We used to be plagued with scam and marketing calls (must be on one of those lists), but now we never get any.

I rather miss them, having once managed to keep the "Microsoft" folks on the line for over an hour one day when I was feeling bored.

 

[Julia9054]

I got scammed once. Got a call from visa saying that there had been unusual activity on my card and advising me to ring the fraud department of my bank. I put the phone down, googled the number and rang them. I am half way through the call to my bank (which i made) and something doesn't feel right. The woman appears to be getting annoyed with me when i am asking questions. I put the phone down, go over what she has said - and what details i have given her - and ring my bank again.
The way it works is that they don't put the phone down between them calling you and you ringing your bank but play a recording of a dialing tone instead.
I changed all my bank details but fortunately did not lose any money. I felt so stupid

 

[Lonestar]

I rather miss them, having once managed to keep the "Microsoft" folks on the line for over an hour one day when I was feeling bored.

To be honest I've got better things to do than wasting my time on this with a total stranger.

 

[nickyboy]

I got scammed once. Got a call from visa saying that there had been unusual activity on my card and advising me to ring the fraud department of my bank. I put the phone down, googled the number and rang them. I am half way through the call to my bank (which i made) and something doesn't feel right. The woman appears to be getting annoyed with me when i am asking questions. I put the phone down, go over what she has said - and what details i have given her - and ring my bank again.
The way it works is that they don't put the phone down between them calling you and you ringing your bank but play a recording of a dialing tone instead.
I changed all my bank details but fortunately did not lose any money. I felt so stupid

I had something similarish....I got a text saying that there was some unusual activity on my Credit Card and to call a certain number

Alarm bells started ringing. Surely MasterCard don't text your mobile when some suspicious transaction is spotted? So I started googling the number the text came from and the number I was told to call (ostensibly the MasterCard Fraud Prevention line).

Turned out it was legit

I'm always suspicious.

Taking this thread, I do worry about my Mum. She isn't super old but, as @User13710 mentioned, she comes from an age when it was normal for "the man of the house" to handle financial stuff like banking and insurance. My Dad died a few years ago and I can tell she really struggles with the complexities of what are not actually complex matters at all. Usually she rings me up and I have to tell her what to do (so effectively becoming "the man of the house" for her)

 

[byegad]

Make em work in a call centre?

I worked in two and had a great time in both. Having come from a properly high stress job, where I'd had a nervous breakdown, due to the stress, I found Call Centre work a breeze, never once in 10 years did I go home and worry about the job.

 

[Globalti]

So, many of us are members of the tribe who have elderly parents.

Could we compile a Ten Commandments, which I can print, laminate and send my Mum to hang by her phone?

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMPUTERS AND TELEPHONES.

1 - Do not engage with unsolicited callers, whether by phone or at the door. Tell them to write.

2 - Do not contact tradesmen without first discussing the problem with X (son) or Y (son in law or daughter living nearby).

3 - Do not be afraid to put the phone down.

4 - Do not click on blue links in emails unless it's something you are expecting.

5 - Refuse ALL requests for payments of any kind until you have discussed with X or Y.


Please feel free to comment, edit, add or delete.

 

[DaveReading]

To be honest I've got better things to do than wasting my time on this with a total stranger.

Strange, I couldn't think of a better use of my time than tying up some b*st*rd for an hour during which he would otherwise be scamming some other poor, more gullible soul(s).

 

[Lonestar]

Strange, I couldn't think of a better use of my time than tying up some b*st*rd for an hour during which he would otherwise be scamming some other poor, more gullible soul(s).

No not strange at all for the reason listed.

 

[Tim Hall]

After various computer based mishaps, some financial some just annoying, we've buttoned down Dad's computer so he can't install anything on it, as he doesn't have admin rights and doesn't know the password to the admin account.

 

[Drago]

After various computer based mishaps, some financial some just annoying, we've buttoned down Dad's computer so he can't install anything on it, as he doesn't have admin rights and doesn't know the password to the admin account.

And you installed that keylogger software so you can pinch his bank details

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Ten things starting with "Do not" would put most people's backs right up.

Reminded me of this:

The Garden of Love
By William Blake


I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars, my joys & desires.


As you were.

 

[classic33]

So, many of us are members of the tribe who have elderly parents.

Could we compile a Ten Commandments, which I can print, laminate and send my Mum to hang by her phone?

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMPUTERS AND TELEPHONES.

1 - Do not engage with unsolicited callers, whether by phone or at the door. Tell them to write.

2 - Do not contact tradesmen without first discussing the problem with X (son) or Y (son in law or daughter living nearby).

3 - Do not be afraid to put the phone down.

4 - Do not click on blue links in emails unless it's something you are expecting.

5 - Refuse ALL requests for payments of any kind until you have discussed with X or Y.


Please feel free to comment, edit, add or delete.

Thou shalt not!

 

[Globalti]

Well of course the ten caveats could be couched in more polite language; the idea is to start with a list of ten do nots in the style of the tablets of stone. Considerable thought would have to go into making them easily understood by a computer illiterate.