How to Keep Seniors Safe From Online Scams

Electronic devices and the internet have become an important part of our daily lives. In fact, kids today don’t know about a world that existed without the internet. This is not the case for older generations who have lived a large part of their lives before the internet became commonplace. As a result, many older adults need to be informed about online scams and how to stay away from them.

Common Online Scams Targeting Seniors

Scammers often specifically target the elderly with specific types of scams as they are a vulnerable group. Some common scams targeted at seniors include:

• Phishing: Scammers bombard potential victims with fake emails and text messages designed to trick them into revealing personal and financial information. Seniors who are not aware of these tactics may end up clicking on malicious links.
  
  
• Tech Support Scams: Just mistyping the name of a website can lead a person to a fake website designed to look like a pop-up warning about a virus. These sites generally urge the victim to call the phone number of a scam call centre that charges them for fixing a non-existent problem.
  
  What’s worse is that they may sign the victim up for a subscription service that deducts money from their account every month.
  
  
• Romantic Dating Scams: Seniors who have lost their spouse may feel the need to look online for companionship. Sadly, scammers are waiting to exploit the loneliness of the elderly by pretending to be their friend or partner to extract significant amounts of money from them.
  
  
• Investment Scams: Investment Scams and Catfishing sometimes go hand-in-hand, such as Pig Butchering Scams. Investment scammers have their eyes on the considerable lifetime savings of seniors and will promise investment returns that are too good to be true, only to disappear once the money has been ‘invested’.
  
  
• Shopping Scams: Social media and search engines have become inundated with advertisements that lead to scam online stores. These sites either steal payment information, take a payment and deliver nothing or pull bait-and-switch scams.
  
  Seniors tend to be more trusting of tech companies such as Facebook and Google, not knowing that advertisers are not vetted before being allowed to run ads on the platforms.
  
  
• Impersonation Scams: Scammers often hack existing accounts or create duplicate accounts to target seniors with impersonation scams. They pretend to be a friend or family member and make urgent demands for money, often in the form of gift cards. It is also known as the Macau Scam.
  
  
• Malware: Email attachments are probably the most common source of computer viruses and even a single malicious attachment can infect the device. 

Cyber Safety Tips for Seniors

Along with teaching them the basics such as checking email, posting on social media and netbanking, it is also important to educate them about the scams mentioned above. Additionally, there are a few more simple tips that can go a long way in preventing the elderly from falling victim to scams:

• Never share personal information with strangers: There is no good reason to share personal information with strangers online. Identification documents should especially not be shared.
  
  
• Never send cryptocurrency to strangers: Investment scammers use jargon such as ‘crypto mining’ to convince the elderly into parting with their savings. They demand that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin be ‘deposited’ into fake platforms for investment. This is extremely unsafe as cryptocurrency payments are practically impossible to recover.
  
  
• Gift cards are not a form of payment: Gift cards are only for gifting. No legitimate organization will ever ask for payments to be made using gift cards. Scammers prefer gift cards because they are untraceable and can be quickly sold on certain platforms such as Paxful.
  
  
• Ads should not be trusted blindly: It is always easier to avoid an impulse buy, no matter how enticing, than going through the stress of getting scammed. The disappointment of receiving a counterfeit product or going through the ordeal of requesting a refund from the bank can be avoided by being a little cautious.
  
  
• Beware of links: It is crucial to be mindful of clicking on links sent from unknown sources. Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods such as creating web pages that are facsimiles of the websites of real organizations.
  
  As a general rule, clicking on links in text messages and emails should always be avoided. Log into the account directly from the actual website to check if there are any account issues.
  
  
• Secure the devices: Installing security software can help prevent devices from being infected with viruses. There are desktop applications, browser extensions and smartphone apps available that can keep all the devices in a household safe by blocking access to malicious websites. Our partner Trend Micro’s free extension Trend Micro Check is designed for this purpose.

Scammers are ruthless and will go to any length to get as much money as possible. It is not unheard of for seniors to lose their entire life savings to scammers. Staying vigilant and taking basic precautions are of utmost importance for cyber safety. We recommend seniors keep our free Scam Checklist handy and remember to Check ScamAdviser Before You Buy.