Jan can take comfort in knowing that many others have succumbed to scams, too. According to the Federal Trade Commission1, hackers and other nefarious individuals stole $1 billion from Americans last year, with online and email fraud accounting for $241 million of that total. “We know the number of these types of incidents is going up,” says Corey Carlisle, Executive Director of the Washington-based American Bankers Association2.
A McMaster University report3 estimates that 5.4% of older adults become victims of financial fraud. The reasons for elder fraud are simple: older people have more money saved than younger generations. A Nielsen report4 found that half of U.S. adults were older than 50 and in control of about 70% of the country’s disposable income. Additionally, as people get older, certain health issues can leave them more vulnerable to hackers.
Fortunately, there are ways to help protect yourself and your loved ones from cyber fraud.