Elderly Victims of Multi-Billion Dollar Scam Business - Essay Sample

Introduction

Scammers fail to discriminate when it comes to who they try to get money from: rich, poor, white, black, 85 and ailing, 65 and healthy. They always try to make money from whoever they can. Elderly people are not left out on this as they suffer from some sort of scam at some point every year. Moreover, their accurate figures may still be an underestimate since a large percentage of internet scams go unreported. Scamming the elderly has become a multi-billion dollar business that has drained the elderly their government benefits and retirement funds. Too many elderly people fall victim to the scams, although it isn't their fault. The elderly population consists of largely trustworthy and financially fruitful people whose cognition may have deteriorated due to various ailments. The literature review provides an analysis of the problem and some of the established solutions basing on past researches conducted on the subject matter.

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The Problem of Cyber Crime Among the Elderly

Technological advancements in the contemporary world have exposed the elderly to smart devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones. According to Appelt (2016), such advancements have led to an increase in the online presence of the elderly and a consequential increase in their exposure to online frauds. Moreover, the synchronization of technology with the financial systems has led to efficiency in banking transactions and an increase in the cases of scamming. Appelt (2016) believes that a properly designed online training program would help to educate the elderly concerning the risks of being involved with the internet. An online tutorial conducted among a group of elderly individuals led to positive yields. The tutorials were backed by the fact that they enable elderly people to clearly understand the aspects of safe browsing, safe shopping, and safe mailing in their quest to protect themselves from online crime.

The concept of routine activity theory can also be applied when addressing elder fraud and financial exploitation. The elderly are the most vulnerable group to online financial fraud stars. This is the case because of their poor cognitive functioning and financial decision making skills (DeLiema, 2018). Most of the online scammers purport to be care-givers, landlords or real estate agents. However, the elderly fall prey to them since they lack trustworthy friends and relatives to safeguard their property. According to DeLiema (2018), the use of routine activity theory can be an effective model for financial victimization among the elderly. Although the model was initially developed for street crime, it has in recent times been adopted for financial crimes. The theory has been tested on aspects of remote purchasing fraud via mobile phones and emails and found to be effective.

The Solution to Cyber Crime Among the Elderly

There are various approaches to handling cybercrime among the elderly. According to Polyak (2018), a major approach to handling the vice is enabling the elderly to understand the various types of fraud. He tasks the organizations that deal with helping the elderly to educate them on the most prevalent scams and raise awareness. This will enable them to detect any suspicious activity while on the internet and have their devices checked for malware. Munanga (2019) stresses the need to educate the elderly as a means to protect them from fraudulent activities that take place on the internet since most of the elderly people who experience cybercrimes fail to report to the police. Moreover, while educating them, their immediate families should also be included to enhance communication and provide assistance when at home (Munanga, 2019). They are also highly prone to dementia and memory problems, hence a high requirement for them to be informed on money management (Polyak, 2018). Therefore, internet fraud training programs should incorporate money management and provide room for the elderly to allow close family members to take part in reducing the cases of financial fraud among them. They should also be informed of the need to avoid opening emails from unknown users and suspicious charity contributions via their phones.

Financial scams are common among family settings. It is vital to understand the risks of financial scams as part of elder abuse prevention strategies (Fenge and Lee, 2018). Financial scams have become a substantial problem in contemporary society. While most people may think that internet scams incorporate outsiders, family members who understand one's financial position may use it as an advantage to blackmail unsuspecting victims. Fenge and Lee (2018) argue that educational programs on internet scams should also put emphasis on the need for not trusting family members too much. The elderly should also learn the need to share and report their experiences to the authorities for the necessary actions to be taken towards mitigating internet fraud. Generally, the act of educating the elderly on cybercrime should enable them to understand the need for not trusting anyone, including family too much.

States have also a role to play in the fight against cybercrime among the elderly. According to Callender, Knight, and Jones (2019), the United Kingdom has been able to set targets and goals with the help of volunteer programs, the police and Force Cyber Crime User Group to help the elderly to understand the issues that revolve around cybersecurity and protection. Countries should establish initiatives that aim at helping the most vulnerable population. Such initiatives should also include educating the police to clearly understand the internet and deal with internet crimes once they arise.

Technological advancements have led to the use of online transactions by most businesses. This has resulted in an increase in the cases of scams among the elderly. Scammers are consistently establishing new methods daily, most of which may not be easily understood by elderly people (Mears, Reisig, Scages, and Holtfreter, 2016). Business owners should therefore, take on the mandate to provide their elderly clients with the best knowledge concerning the vice and their business sustainability. The approach involves helping them to understand business emails and telephone numbers for business communication purposes (Mears, Reisig, Scages, and Holtfreter, 2016). The elderly should also be enlightened on the need to consult before carrying out any transactions in the event of any suspicious or fraudulent activity.

Conclusion

To conclude, the elderly population has become extremely susceptible to cyber scams. This can be attributed to their states of isolation, their money situation since they are prone to possessing huge amounts that result from their retirement benefits or savings, their ease to trust, insecurities and lower cognition that comes with their age. However, various stakeholders can come into place to mitigate the vice and these include the state, anti-fraud organizations and the individual businesses at large. A combination of all these forces would help to enlighten the elderly population and make them more vigilant to cybercrime.

References

Appelt, L. C. (2016). Designing for the elderly user: internet safety training. The University of Baltimore.

Callender, M., Knight, L., & Jones, A. (2019). Guidance and Learning from Elderly Victimisation Prevention in Avon & Somerset Police. Retrieved from http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/12208/

DeLiema, M. (2018). Elder fraud and financial exploitation: Application of routine activity theory. The Gerontologist, 58(4), 706-718.

Fenge, L. A., & Lee, S. (2018). Understanding the risks of financial scams as part of elder abuse prevention. British Journal of Social Work, 48(4), 906-923.

Mears, D. P., Reisig, M. D., Scaggs, S., & Holtfreter, K. (2016). Efforts to reduce consumer fraud victimization among the elderly: The effect of information access on program awareness and contact. Crime & Delinquency, 62(9), 1235-1259.

Munanga, A. (2019). Cybercrime: A New and Growing Problem for Older Adults. Journal of gerontological nursing, 45(2), 3-5.

Polyak, I. (2018). Preventing elder fraud. Journal of Accountancy, 226(2), 14-14.