Digital Literacy for the Silver Generation: Spotting and Avoiding Scams

Written by Kanishka Selvakumar

Scam cases are on the rise. However, do you know the true extent to which they are increasing? Victims lost a record high of over $385.6 million in the first half of 2024, a 24.6% increase compared with the $309.4 million lost in the same period of 2023 (Mid-Year Scams and Cybercrime Brief 2024 by the Singapore Police Force). 

The elderly, defined as those aged 65 and above, made up only 7.2% of the scam victims. Although this is good news, it is concerning to note that the average amount lost per elderly victim is the highest among all age groups. The impact is much more detrimental for seniors, as they risk losing their entire life savings and are highly unlikely to financially recover if they are in the post-retirement stage. 

What Makes Elderly Prime Targets

You may wonder why scammers target the elderly. Apart from having an abundance of financial assets, the elderly often have more free time or may experience social isolation during their post-retirement stage. This makes them more inclined to respond to calls or emails from strangers. Existing studies also suggest that the elderly have a more trusting nature compared to younger adults, resulting in a higher tendency for them to fall prey to scams. 

Emotional and psychiatric risk factors like depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and memory issues might also cause them to feel more obliged to comply with the demands set by the scammer. Other factors, such as a limited social network, a lack of comfort and experience with technology, and a lack of awareness about scams, make them prime targets for scammers.

Common Scams Faced By Elderly

The common scams faced by the elderly include fake friend call scams, investment scams, and phishing. In 2024, among the elderly victims, 24.4% fell prey to phony friend call scams, 19.5% fell victim to investment scams, and 14.6% fell prey to phishing scams. In terms of the total amount lost, however, investment scams, job scams, and government official impersonation scams were the top three scam types in the first half of 2024. (Mid-Year Scams and Cybercrime Brief 2024 by the Singapore Police Force). 

1. Fake Friend Call Scams

Fake friend call scams typically involve scammers contacting victims via phone calls or messages, pretending to be someone they previously knew. After becoming a trusted acquaintance, the scammers would take advantage of the established friendship to request money for various made-up reasons. Victims usually realize that they have been scammed after they have transferred money, and the scammer then cuts off all connections with them.

2. Investment Scams

Scammers typically entice victims with investment opportunities offering unrealistically high returns. They then trick unsuspecting victims into transferring their funds to specific bank accounts. What’s worse? In some exceptional cases, scammers enhance deception by sending initial profits to attract larger investments.

3. Phishing Scams

There are different types of phishing scams, such as spear phishing, whaling, smishing, and vishing. These types of scams ultimately involve malicious text messages or emails posing to be legitimate government websites, organizations, or companies. Phishing directs victims to fake websites and the unauthorised installation of malware by scammers to obtain personal information or assets from the victims.

Dos and Don’ts to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones

While scams can be intimidating, here are some actionable steps you can take to protect yourself and those around you. 

Dos

1. Use strong passwords that include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols of an appropriate length.

2. Use different passwords for different accounts.

3. Regularly review reports and bank statements for suspicious activity.

4. Secure important documents by using a secure cloud storage service.

5. Proactively identify forms of manipulation (e.g., emotional manipulation, creating urgency, threatening consequences, use of deceptive language) to protect yourself from them.

6. Use multi-factor authentication on personal accounts.

7. Use call-blocking filters such as the ScamShield app.

   1. EnhancedScamShield is equipped with artificial intelligence and can identify and alert users to potential scam threats across WhatsApp, Telegram, and Weblinks.

Don’ts

1. Do not log in to personal accounts using unsecured public wifi.

2. Do not click suspicious links from unknown and untrusted sources.

3. Do not share personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and passwords.

4. Do not accept friend requests from strangers.

5. Do not answer calls from strangers.

If you want to learn more about how you can protect yourself and others, check out MTC’s Digital Arts For Life Workshops for seniors here.