Protect senior citizens from financial fraud and scams as caregivers

To quote Alfonso Cuaron, “Technology is technology. Technology doesn’t have ‘a,’ it is not good or bad. Technologies are tools”. The advancement of technology simplifies our daily lives, including financial aspects. From paying groceries to money transferring, all one has to do is owned a phone and approve the transaction with a touch of a button. However, with easier access to technology services comes greater risks.

When suspicious emails, texts, or calls are received by someone, most people nowadays ignore it because unknown senders are often associated with the word scam. The act of scamming is concerning, especially when they target senior citizens, as it could affect their future lives. In this day and age, senior citizens often make the local news headline for falling victim to financial fraud and scams. Earlier this year, Dewan Rakyat revealed that a total of 51,631 online fraud cases were reported from the year 2019 until 2021, amounting to RM1.61 billion in total loss [1]. As a caregiver, it is essential that you protect and educate senior citizens, so they don’t fall victim to financial scams. ?

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Why target senior citizens

It is well-known that senior citizens tend to have retirement plans that involve a large sum of money they have saved to realise their future living comfortably. From travelling the world to living in a cosy cottage in the middle of nowhere, senior citizens have been saving up for a stress-free life. Thus, making senior citizens a perfect victim for scammers to prey upon.

Another reason why senior citizens fall victim to scammers is because of their cognitive brain condition that tampers with memory, such as dementia. These scammers often take advantage of their forgetfulness by pretending to be family members or friends when they are foes. Scammers will take this opportunity to extract important details related to financials.

Moreover, the older generations are generally more trusting, putting them at a higher risk of exploitation. A study by the University of California, Los Angeles, shows that elderly people have trouble identifying untrustworthy faces because of age-related brain activity that drops as age increases [2]. Due to senior citizens’ trusting nature, they often fall prey to scammers’ tricks because these scammers have mastered the art of sweet talking and manipulating, which makes it hard for senior citizens to detect insincerity. Therefore, beware of those who are nice to you as they might have another intention up their sleeves. ???????

With senior citizens’ family members, such as their children, living apart and far away from them, the feeling of unhappiness will find its place in their hearts. The feeling of loneliness and sadness would make them crave companionship, which they would resolve by finding someone outside of their family members. One of the reasons behind this is that they don’t want to burden their own family member with their need for human interaction. Scammers will take advantage of this by acting to be their friends and playing with their emotions.

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Common Scams Targeting Senior Citizens in Malaysia

One of the common scams targeting local senior citizens is online lucky draw or contest scams. This form of deception usually showcases attractive internet pop-ups, emails or texts luring victims to take part in the competition. ??

Hajj and Umrah scams are other forms of common and popular scams in Malaysia. It is well known that you will need a significant amount of money to be able to perform Hajj and Umrah, which is why senior citizens often save up their money to allow themselves to travel to the holy land of Mecca. Scammers would take this opportunity by offering cheap packages that do not exist. ?

Real estate scams refer to scammers advertising non-existing houses or lands. The attractive facilities and spacious houses often grab anyone’s attention and not just senior citizens. However, most senior citizens are not as tech-savvy as young generations with their gadgets which limits them from doing in-depth background research to identify the credibility of the seller or the existence of the house or land. ????

As you grow older, it is only natural that your health starts to decline, which drives you to seek medical supplements and healthcare. This is true especially for senior citizens as health becomes their utmost priority. Promoted as a fast recovery and healthier alternative to hospital medications, scammers will use this tactic to lure senior citizens into buying these products.

Another scam that often makes it into the newspaper is the Macau scam. In this form of scam, scammers will reach out to victims through phone calls by pretending to be local authorities or government agency bodies. These scammers will use the scare tactic to force victims to comply and end up losing a large sum of money. ????

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How to Protect Your Loved Ones

With all these advancements in technology, it is important that you as caregivers need to protect and help them from falling victim to scams. Take the time to sit down with them and slowly open the topic of scams. You can begin by informing them about the type of financial scams and fraud that exist in today’s time, by which they need to be careful before clicking on unknown links or accepting unknown phone calls. Have the time to teach them how to spot these scams, as scammers are now more advanced than before. Tell your elderly parents or close family members to be discreet about their financial situation and to never share this information with their friends or strangers they just met. To ensure that they are safe from scammers, you could tell them that you are available to discuss with them about future purchasing that involves a considerable amount of money. Remember to take your time explaining to them in a calm manner. [i]

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Where to report

If your loved ones have been a victim of scams, please reach out to the authorities below:

·???????PDRM

·???????CCID Scam Response Centre (helpline – 03-26101559)

·???????Bank Negara Malaysia (bnmtelelink – 1300 88 5465)

·???????MCMC (hotline – 1800 88 2623)

Sources:

[1] https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/03/779915/online-scammers-rake-rm16-billion-over-51000-reports-lodged-2-years

[2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-older-adults-are-too-trusting/

[i] https://www.homage.com.my/resources/protecting-seniors-from-fraud/