By Antoine Piau, geriatrician

Written on
02/16/2021

If the scams date back to the big bang and that the repairs of faucet leaks to 2000 euros still exist, the digital unfortunately opens new perspectives to the crooks who can calmly lay their traps.

Seniors, prime targets

Young people are regularly targeted, sometimes with some success, but they have a certain expertise from their past mishaps, they also grew up with the internet.
On the other hand, often alone, psychologically fragile or suffering from cognitive problems that alter their judgment, seniors are privileged targets for these traps.

Many older people complain that they receive a fraudulent email every week. They are not more targeted but on the other hand they would be more likely to be trapped (30-50% more).

Some frequent scams

• A person spoofs an acquaintance’s email, says they are in a difficult situation and need money.
• Someone asks you for banking information to transfer money or lottery winnings to you.
• You receive a threatening email (lawyer, police, court, insurance) asking you to open an attachment or click on a link.

Simple rules to avoid being trapped

The situations can be varied:

• Use common sense.
• People will never email you to give you money, when someone has a terribly profitable investment, they don’t tell you about it.
• In 2021 bad news does not come by email. You will receive a letter (police, court). No one will contact you to tell you that your computer is malfunctioning and can be fixed, and neither will your washing machine or coffee maker.

Cross-reference the information

• Someone who claims to know you asks for money, don’t answer. If you really have a doubt, cross-check the info, call him or his relatives, ask him questions to which only he knows the answer.
• Don’t be afraid to disturb neighbors or family to ask what they think, they may have already been fooled too. Take the initiative.
• Do not connect to a bank account or insurance from an email. Go to the site with your credentials, open the email, it’s not very risky usually, but don’t open attachments or click a link inside the email.
• Likewise if you want to donate money to a charity, don’t do it in response to an email, go log onto their site to be sure you don’t give to a scammer.

Bonus personal advice

You should never miss an opportunity to have a little fun. Rather than getting worked up and brooding, you can afford to play around a bit. Respond to your dear friends by offering to give you their address and credit card number so you can cover them with infinite riches.