Why are older people more susceptible to cyber fraud?

Lost billions

Unlike young people, the elderly are mostly approached by criminals through direct phone calls. Fraudsters mainly pose as officers of agencies: police, prosecutors, courts to launch threats related to various forms of crime to appropriate money. Police agencies at all levels have received many reports from the elderly who have been scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dong to billions of dong.

In June 2023, Ms. PTN, in Le Loi commune (Gia Loc), was invited to be friends with two strangers impersonating police officers on Zalo and called to say that she was a suspect in a human trafficking ring abroad and drug trafficking. The subjects also threatened to send an arrest warrant for Ms. N., demanding that she deposit money into their account to help her get out on bail. Fearful and believing it was true, Ms. N. transferred 195 million VND to them and was robbed.

Many cases have been scammed out of billions of dong. At the end of August 2021, Ms. NTN (born in 1953, residing in Sao Do ward, Chi Linh) received a phone call from two people who introduced themselves as government employees. The police informed her that Ms. N. was involved in a drug crime ring. The people asked her to open a bank account and transfer the money she had there to prove that she was not involved in any crime. Not thinking that she was being set up by the scammers, Ms. N. went to the bank to open an account and deposited more than 1.8 billion VND, which was immediately taken by them.

According to the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Hai Duong Provincial Police), in recent times, nearly 60% of the victims of fraud reports received by the unit are elderly people. The consequences of these scams are huge. Many people have saved a little money for their old age or had their children working far away keep it for them, but have lost it all. Due to threats from the subjects, some people have borrowed money to transfer money to them, falling into debt.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Pham Huu Mang, Deputy Head of the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, the elderly are more likely to fall into the traps of cyber criminals because they have little access to propaganda and warnings from authorities on mass media. Therefore, they have not yet promptly grasped the methods and tricks of criminals. Many people have limited social knowledge and do not understand that when handling related work, judicial agencies do not work via phone or social networks but must meet in person or notify in writing.

"Many people are mentally weak when they are constantly threatened by subjects such as if they do not transfer money, they or their relatives will be arrested. They also terrorize them mentally by constantly calling them to manipulate their psychology so that they do not have time to think or calculate, but only know how to follow the request," said Lieutenant Colonel Pham Huu Mang.

Early prevention

In order to help people, especially the elderly, improve their understanding and awareness of crime prevention, in recent times, the police have coordinated to promote the dissemination of methods, tricks, and ways to prevent fraud. The police have exchanged and coordinated with credit institutions to make announcements about the tricks of criminals; instructed employees working at transaction counters on how to recognize customers who show signs of being suspected of having their property stolen by fraudsters in order to warn and prevent them.

From the above measures, in recent times, credit institutions in Gia Loc district have supported and successfully prevented many elderly people from making money transfers to scammers. Typically, in October 2023, the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Gia Loc district branch, helped a female customer (65 years old) in Gia Luong commune not to transfer nearly 700 million to a scammer. That day, around 4:30 pm, Ms. Mai Thi Hieu, a transaction officer of the bank, received and processed the money transfer and withdrawal procedures of this customer. Seeing something unusual, Ms. Hieu immediately tried to inquire, reassure, and encourage the customer to recount the incident. When determining that the customer was being threatened by scammers, Ms. Hieu immediately analyzed the situation so that the customer understood the situation and did not transfer money to them.

According to Major Nguyen Hoang Ha, Deputy Chief of Cam Giang District Police, in order to gradually prevent the elderly from being scammed by criminals on the internet, in addition to traditional propaganda, all levels, sectors and organizations need to implement a number of other methods of propaganda and support. The Association of the Elderly in localities needs to regularly update methods and tricks of fraud to disseminate to members and the elderly. Families with only elderly grandparents living together, or living alone, children and relatives should regularly remind them to be aware of prevention. When receiving unusual calls, especially those related to money, the elderly should not rush to act but should discuss with their children and authorities for advice and support...