Could brain scans spot pensioners at risk of fraud?

ELDERLY people at risk of falling victim to fraudsters could soon be identified before they are targeted using brain scans, research suggests.

Two areas of the brain that help us spot suspicious situations did not function as well in those who had lost money in scams, US scientists found.

The team said it was unclear why only some people seemed to suffer these brain changes.

But they are now developing a tool to help identify those at risk of fraud. Dr Nathan Spreng, a cognitive scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and his team studied 26 people over 60, half of whom had suffered financial exploitation.

The study, published in the Journals of Gerontology, found the outer layers in two brain regions – the anterior insula and the superior temporal sulcus – were thinner in those who had been scammed. The connections within the two regions were also reduced, suggesting they weren’t working as well.

Dr Spreng said he hopes the finding could reduce stigma, as it suggests falling victim to such crimes ‘may be attributable to specific brain changes that occur as part of the normal ageing process’.

He added: ‘Often people feel embarrassed to report that they have been exploited. If our findings are replicated in larger studies, it would provide important evidence to demonstrate that financial exploitation is not the result of being careless or gullible. We need to start treating this as a medical problem and not a societal one.’

Mervyn Kohler, a special adviser at Age UK, said: ‘The idea that anyone would deliberately target an older person for the purpose of fraud is so abhorrent that most of us prefer never to think about it.

‘Worryingly, there is every reason to suppose the threat to older people is increasing. This research will help to identify those most at risk so that appropriate support is in place should the situation arise.’