Seniors Are Very Vulnerable to Identity Theft. Why?
An aging population where seniors own over half of the financial assets in the country and nearly 3 times the average net worth of 35-44 year olds make them, unsurprisingly, especially attractive to identity thieves.
Rapid changes in technology and the use of technology by seniors just learning to adapt to its use is a major vulnerability.
During, and post Covid, many seniors have to get their information, benefits, shop, make financial transactions etc digitally rather than in person and no doubt this trend will continue. However, they may not have enough education about the dangers as well as the convenience of the digital world.
Many of the new users aren’t aware of the dangers of sharing passwords, PIN codes, social media accounts and the like.
The technology itself can be baffling too! Unsecured mobile devices, poorly secured PC’s and laptops, insecure network access, all these pose dangers.
Seniors tend to be proud and won’t always want to ask for help in understanding and implementing safe ways of participating in the online world.
They can be very trusting too and rogue actors posing as officials from government or local agencies, telecoms companies, medical facilities and even family create opportunity for fraud.
Similarly, doing more tasks online makes them vulnerable to Phishing attacks especially in association with official looking documents, shopping offers and medical communications.
If we have seniors amongst family and friends, let’s educate them and assist them in keeping themselves safe! If nothing else let’s set three golden rules:
- Don’t share Passwords and PINs unless you’re completely sure it’s safe
- Don’t give out personal information online or over the phone unless it’s to a trusted person and it’s crucial to the task in hand. Less is more!
- When in doubt, ask for help, don’t just click! The outcome may be very bad
As always we’re here to help and answer any questions you may have!
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877 308 9169