Older people are often more likely to be targeted by scammers – and veteran broadcaster, Moira Stuart, has revealed she was almost duped herself.
The Classic FM presenter, 75, told the Times that although she was aware of scams and thought she was safe from them, she felt “absolutely devastated, embarrassed and angry” with herself after she fell for a phone call from a scammer.
During the call, the fraudster told former BBC news presenter Stuart that money had been taken from her account by someone in collusion with staff at her local bank branch. She was advised to go to a different branch to resolve the problem, while the scammer stayed on the line – telling Stuart that she needed to make a bank transfer.
Fortunately, the bank’s cashier realised Stuart was being scammed, and the call was ended before any money was taken.
Stuart said: “If you’re very independent, as I am, it feels like you have let yourself down, your family, everyone who knows you.”
She has now teamed up with AbilityNet, which supports older and disabled people with using new technology, and BT Group to encourage older people to learn new digital skills and raise awareness of online scams, after their research found people aged 55-64 face the highest number of scams.
In addition, Age UK research earlier this year found 41% of people aged over 50 said they’d been scammed in the last five years, losing an average of £2,022. And of those who lost money, 22% never recovered it.
“Many scammers are highly sophisticated criminals and it’s easy for anyone to be tricked by them,” warns Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK. “Age UK is warning that older people – particularly those who live alone or with cognitive impairment – are at greater risk of becoming victims to certain scams.
“Financial losses are common and are bad enough, but being scammed can also seriously affect people’s quality of life and wellbeing. Many older people who are victimised experience a deep sense of shame, embarrassment, depression, social isolation and a decline in physical health, with some even losing their independence following a scam.”
Lucy Walsh, a digital skills trainer for AbilityNet, agrees older people can be more at risk from financial scams, and says: “Younger people are much better at deciphering information when it’s sent to them digitally, they understand if something looks fake, whereas when older people see something in print they believe it because it looks so professional.
“On top of that, they have more fear of anything financial. Older people have worked hard, saved hard, and are very protective of their money. So when they see something that says you owe us money, or you must pay us or something dreadful will happen, it really tugs on their heartstrings.”
So, how can older people get wise to scammers? Here’s Walsh’s advice…
1. Read things very carefully
Walsh advises people who receive any communication online or in the post to: “Always read something carefully. Who is it addressed to? It should be addressed to your name or email. Who is it coming from? If something seems suspicious, it probably is.”
2. Are you expecting it?
Scammers will usually send out a wide range of emails to numerous recipients, referring to something quite common that will be relevant to some of them – such as a delivery. Walsh’s advice is to slow down and consider whether you were expecting such a thing: “So if it’s saying there’s a parcel on its way to you from Amazon, or we couldn’t deliver something from Hermes, are you actually expecting a parcel?”
3. Beware of pop-ups
You may be searching on the internet, or browsing social media, and something pops up recommending you buy something, or perhaps telling you something has expired and you can ‘click and buy it immediately’.
But Walsh says: “Lots of those little pop-up windows are catching older people because they look so official. The really small stuff is happening with pop-ups, and people see that it’s only £1.99, for example, and they think that’s not a great deal of money. But it’s not about the amount – its the second you hand over your bank details, that’s it.”
4. Don’t always believe what you see
Older people tend to be more likely to fall for a scam when they see something like an official logo they recognise online, as opposed to just hearing somebody’s voice on the phone, says Walsh. “When people hear these kinds of things on the phone, they hang up, but when they see them, they’re much more likely to believe them.
“Older people, and younger people too, just can’t get their head around how official these things look. It’ll look like it’s the official website, and they’ll think it’s fine. But it may not be – it’s very easy for scammers to cut and paste logos and pictures.”
5. Be careful where you click
If you get an email, text message or a pop-up on social media and are asked to click on a link, be very wary, says Walsh.
“I think the most important thing for older people, particularly online, is to be very, very wary about where they’re clicking. So with any of these blue links within emails, text messages etc, that you click to go on to another platform, we say: stop, come out of where you are and go on to the official website and check from there.”
6. Talk to other people
Don’t keep your scam experiences secret – talk to other people and warn them.
“Talk to each other, it’s really important,” says Walsh. “When people start talking to each other, it unlocks so much. They’re almost ashamed, embarrassed or frightened to talk about the fact that they’ve been scammed or they nearly fell for it. But when they start talking, they learn so much from each other.”
7. Just say no
Don’t worry about being polite – just say no and hang up if you have any suspicions at all, advises Walsh. “Don’t be afraid to say no. You don’t have to be polite and listen. You could just say, ‘No thanks, I don’t want that’.”
AbilityNet is hosting a free webinar on October 17 at 1pm covering 5 Essential Tips for Online Safety and Support
