Seniors are increasingly targeted in ever-sophisticated online financial cybercrimes, but mental health clinicians can play a key role in protecting their patients.
Elizabeth J. Santos, MD, clinical chief, Division of Geriatric Mental Health & Memory Care, and associate professor of psychiatry, neurology & medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, provided tips to attendees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2024 Annual Meeting, and elaborated on these for this news organization.
Cybercrimes targeting seniors are common. A 2023 University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found 75% of adults aged 50-80 years experienced a fraud attempt either online or by phone, text, email, or mail in the past 2 years.
The poll found about 30% of respondents reported experiencing financial fraud, which could involve compromising credit cards, hacking bank accounts, or identity theft.
Older age is a risk factor for cybercrime. Seniors may have lower cognitive functioning and/or impaired decision-making. In addition, they are often socially isolated, dependent on others, and have poor health and financial literacy.
Romance Scams Common
Romance scams are another common financial fraud. Stephanie Garayalde, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, and another presenter at the APA session, used the example of Mr. L, a 74-year-old outpatient under treatment for depression who was unable to pay his rent.
Mr. L was giving money to his “girlfriend” he met online. Their relationship was totally virtual; she always had constant excuses for not meeting in person. He was funneling increasing funds to pay what he believed were medical bills and to bail her out of various other emergencies.
Once the fraud was discovered, Mr. L not only felt the loneliness of a lost romantic connection but also grappled with feelings of embarrassment and guilt.
“I see older patients who have been scammed who feel ashamed that they haven’t left enough money for their families,” said Dr. Santos.
Another well-known scam targets grandparents. Fraudsters sometimes use an artificial intelligence–generated voice mimicking a young family member and pretend to need money right away for bail or another problem.
In such situations, Dr. Santos advises patients to “hang up and call your family” to verify the call “no matter what the person says or who they sound like.”
Scammers may impersonate government officials to try to get social insurance information. Dr. Santos stresses the importance of never giving out this information. “If someone says they’re from your bank or a government agency like the IRS, hang up and call the bank or agency yourself.”
Evidence suggests this and other cybercrimes are on the rise. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 888,000 complaints in 2023, a 10% increase from 2022, and losses of about $12.5 billion, which is a 22% increase over 2022.
It’s not that uncommon for the same older person to be scammed by numerous people and fall for it again and again, said Dr. Santos.
To mitigate the risk to this vulnerable group, researchers at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, are developing a scam screener for the elderly that will provide tools to help doctors screen older adults. The screen will focus on identifying factors that make victims most vulnerable, including seniors’ ability to think critically, a necessary skill for guarding against cybercrime.