What should seniors be doing to spot a scam online?

By Staff

June 19th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

You read about an older trusting soul who loses a lot of the money they had in the bank to someone who tricked them into passing along banking information or getting duped into a scheme.

The police have not managed to catch many of the criminals.

Royal Bank of Canada did a survey and found that fewer Canadian seniors 55+ feel comfortable identifying when they are being scammed (65%), since last year (71%). With AI resulting in more sophisticated fraud attempts and less time and resources to recoup any lost funds, their top concern is unauthorized access to online accounts/personal information (89%), followed by identity theft (87%) and having their email/social media account hacked (84%), according to a recent RBC survey.

Adam Evans, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer at RBC, made the following points in a media release:

What should seniors be doing?

Identify a Trusted Ally – Speak with a close friend or family that can help you with security/technology questions.

Avoid Unknown numbers –Don’t pick up a call or answer a text if you don’t recognize the phone number or set phone to accept call from contacts only.

Think before you click – Carefully examine emails, text messages, and websites for anything that looks suspicious and be sure a message is genuine before you interact.

Do not disclose personal information – Remember to never disclose any personal information or banking to strangers or unverified persons including PIN, One-Time Passcodes, and answers to digital banking Personal Verification Questions (PVQs)

Keep your mobile device secure –– Smartphones are smart, but they’re not always secure. Remember to install updates when they  become available, uninstall unused apps, and always factory reset your device before returning it for service.

Develop an action plan – If something bad happens you should know exactly what steps to take to restore your privacy. This can include changing all of your passwords, contacting your bank or credit company, or asking a trusted ally for help dealing with the situation.

What is the worst ongoing scam at this time?

In 2023, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) reported that the grandparent/ emergency scam was one of the top 10 frauds based on dollar loss, at $11.3M.

The grandparent scam is a highly pervasive fraud tactic, and very successful since it preys on a senior’s emotions and their desire to protect their loved ones. Grandparent scams involve a fraudster who poses as a loved one – typically a grandchild – claiming to be hurt or in trouble and that they need money immediately.

It’s important to remember that it is always Ok to question, pause and not act. A great rule of thumb is to take a few seconds and think about what is going on – taking that pause and questioning the situation can lead to quickly realizing that something doesn’t add up.

And if it doesn’t feel right – it probably isn’t.