Fraud warning as elderly join online shopping rush

MORE than half of pensioners have joined the internet revolution by starting to shop online, official figures showed yesterday.

For the first time, the majority of those over the traditional retirement age of 65 have enough confidence to buy goods and services on the web.

But the trend has prompted warnings that growing numbers of vulnerable people may be exposed to online scams.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show one in 14 people overall have suffered from debit or credit card fraud over the past year.

The report found more than three-quarters of the over-65s used the internet last year, with 61 per cent going online every day while another 15 per cent do so less frequently.

Older people, however, still lag behind the young – with 100 per cent of those in their late teens and early 20s going online daily.

The figures showed that 54 per cent of over-65s bought at least some goods or services via the internet over the past 12 months.

This was up from 48 per cent the previous year and a huge increase from 2008 when the figure was just 16 per cent.

These statistics are likely to reflect both the increasing importance of the internet and the ageing of those who were in their mid40s when online commerce use became much more widespread in the late 1990s.

A third of older online shoppers bought clothes and more than a quarter bought holidays, the ONS found.

However, the over-65s remain slow to tap into streamed entertainment. Only 11 per cent bought online films or music, just a fifth of the figure for people in their late 20s and early 30s using streamed or downloaded entertainment. Law firm Irwin Mitchell has warned the risk of fraud for pensioners is rising along with their web use. Kelly Greig, its specialist on legal problems for older people, said: ‘Elderly people living alone can be very vulnerable to unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of their finances, unknown to friends and family until it is too late.

‘Pair these latest statistics with the rising numbers of dementia diagnoses and we are potentially facing a big increase in the amount of financial abuse cases.’

The ONS figures, based on 1,100 interviews recorded each month, said seven per cent of people had encountered fraudulent credit or debit card use online.

One in 50 said they had suffered financial loss as a result of identity theft, fraudulent messages or being redirected to fake websites. Nearly three in four use internet banking, up from four in ten in 2008 with the ONS linking the rise to the closure of high street branches.

One in ten decline to shop online, citing fears about security and privacy or preferring to shop in person. Although 93 per cent of homes have web access, some still resist with just over one household in every 25 saying they did not need the internet.

‘Vulnerable to the unscrupulous’