These lawless scammers are preying on seniors: how to protect yourself ?

© Pexels/Anna Shvets

This is a worrying survey, to say the least, that researchers from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom have just published in partnership with the charity Re-engage. The idea was to find out to what extent seniors are the targets of online scams. To see more clearly, the experts interviewed 1,177 elderly people, 80% of whom live alone.

A dramatic observation

The conclusions are bitter to say the least, in fact, two out of three respondents declared having been targeted by scammers during of the last year. Scams often carried out by landline or mobile telephone or by SMS which have major consequences on their mental health, since many of them declare that it has made them depressed, afraid, or even in the worst cases suicidal.

Worse, we see that cybercriminals are targeting our elders, and around 20% of respondents experienced weekly scam attempts, while 40% of participants reported monthly approaches.

Laura Joplin, impact manager for the Re-engage organization, deplores:

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The scale of intimidation and fear unleashed among older people by these scams and frauds is truly shocking. They are the cause of enormous distress. Many of our callers are simply too terrified to answer the phone because it could be someone trying to steal their money. This contributes to their feelings of isolation which, in turn, harms their quality of life.

Faced with this threat, many people have decided to no longer answer the phone at all. But we also know that these scams can be deployed by SMS, by email or when you browse online.

Our advice to protect yourself

What we can advise you is to never give in to the feeling of urgency that people want instill these cybercriminals. Never say yes too quickly, and take time to think before you act.

When an offer is too good to be true, it is unfortunately often of a scam. Also take the reflex to check the email addresses of your contacts or their telephone numbers which are often fake. Also check the spelling of messages which is sometimes approximate.

If you have been the victim of a cyber attack, do not panic. You must first notify your bank as quickly as possible in order to object. Also remember to file a complaint and report possible hacking on the site cybermalveillance.gouv.fr.

Finally note that the use of an antivirus solution is never superfluous. We have put together a guide for you which lists the best solutions on the market.

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