How the elderly pay the highest price of Britain’s fraud tsunami
Scam victims over 70 have lost nearly £1 BILLION in just three years. Now experts warn of a ‘silent epidemic’ of unreported cases as many are too frightened to come forward...
THe elderly could be suffering a ‘ silent epidemic’ of fraud after it emerged the over- 70s have lost almost £1 billion over the past three years.
And experts fear the true figure could be higher, as many pensioners are too scared to report crimes or don’t realise they’ve been a victim.
Money Mail analysis of Action Fraud figures reveals scam victims aged over 70 lost about £977 million in total between April 2019 and 2022.
The very elderly, aged between 90 and 99, reported £116 million stolen, an average of £6,097 each. And this is despite the age group accounting for 19,059 of the total 178,772 cases logged among the over-70s.
People in their 20s and 30s typically reported the most incidents of fraud, but their losses averaged less than half those of the over-90s, at £2,391 — £825 million over the same period.
Of all age groups, it was victims in their 50s who suffered the biggest total loss in each one of the three years, Action Fraud’s figures show.
Professor Keith Brown, formerly of Bournemouth University and an expert in safeguarding adults, says: ‘ The fraud that occurs among elderly people who live alone is under-reported. Many older victims are too ashamed to come forward.
‘And vulnerable elderly people, such as those with dementia, are at higher risk as they are unlikely to realise they have been scammed.
‘it’s a silent epidemic. if you have elderly relatives, or people you care for, you can almost assume they are going to be a victim.’
The Daily Mail revealed last month that Britain has become the fraud capital of the world and is campaigning for a major overhaul to the system.
When confronted with this investigation on LBC radio, technology and digital economy minister Chris Philp admitted fraud is a ‘huge problem’ and — ‘shockingly’ — still growing. He also warned that Google and Facebook need to do ‘a lot more’ to stop people’s money disappearing ‘in a puff of smoke’ after responding to a fraudulent advert online.
One major bank says its figures also show the amount of money lost to fraud increases with the victim’s age.
LizzieGLer, director of fraud and financial crime at Lloyds Bank, explains: ‘Older people tend to be at higher risk of more complex scams, like investment, impersonation or romance scams, with fraudsters going to great lengths to convince their victim to hand over their cash.
‘This is in contrast to the more common purchase scam, where we typically see younger people tricked into buying things such as fake trainers, with the amounts involved smaller overall but occurring more frequently.’
experts suggest older generations are more at risk from impersonation scams, where they are pressured into sending money to crooks posing as banks and tax officials, as they are more obedient when confronted by figures of authority.
Fraudsters also know younger people typically have less money to lose, whereas those approaching retirement have often accrued large sums of savings.
Professor Brown adds: ‘ it’s about loneliness, too. Older people who live alone and do not have someone in the house to “sense check” things are more susceptible to coercive control.’
The concerns follow reports last week that sensitive and private data of wealthy elderly people is being sold to scammers on Facebook for as little as 16p.
Posts advertising data for sale such as ‘UK old age high income leads’ are prevalent on the social networking site, according to an investigation by the BBC.
Around 85 pc of over-65s have been targeted by a scam this year, according to Citizens Advice. And nearly a third of over-65s are bombarded by scam calls, texts and emails daily, a YouGov survey revealed. But experts fear many of those who fall victim are not telling the police or their bank.
More than 900,000 people in the UK are living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. This is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
People over 70 are far more likely to be preyed on by nuisance
callers, according to National Trading standards (NTs).
Those who respond to scam calls and mail can be added onto ‘suckers’ lists’, leading to people being repeatedly targeted. The average age of someone on this type of list is 73, according to NTs.
These victims can also be regularly asked for charity donations or pressured into buying goods.
Age UK has previously warned that older people are at increased risk of doorstep crime.
The Mail heard from one 95-yearold victim who was harassed at home by fraudsters posing as their bank. The crook called to say the account had been drained by scammers and that a courier would be sent to destroy his bank card.
A woman turned up ten minutes later, with a pair of scissors, and pretended to cut up his debit card. But it was a ruse and the criminals used his card to steal £2,300.
A relative told the Mail the elderly man has ‘become anxious and it’s affecting his breathing’. There are also concerns the push towards online banking is leaving older people, many of whom are nervous about the internet, exposed.
simon Hewett-Avison, director of services at Independent Age, says: ‘Closing bank branches is piling anxiety onto older people. Many depend on local branches to access support. We’re concerned branch closures may mean older people turn to someone untrustworthy.’