Frailty and digital illiteracy are the stereotypical reasons older people are vulnerable. But it’s more complicated than that.Frailty and digital illiteracy are the stereotypical reasons older people are vulnerable. But it’s more complicated than that.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, Americans over the age of 60 reported more than 147,000 frauds in 2024, with losses of around $4.8 billion—far higher than any other age group. And the true numbers are likely greater because many victims are too ashamed to report that they fell for a scam.

But the reasons retirees are vulnerable aren’t always what people assume. To better understand why cybercriminals target retirees, we spoke to Pam Briggs, a professor of applied psychology at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, who has done extensive research on the topic.

...

BRIGGS: When we started researching this, we thought about the way things like social and technical support gets lost in retirement and asked how those losses could translate into cybersecurity vulnerabilities. In the workplace you’re constantly exposed to information about scams and new technologies. You hear about problems from colleagues, you see what tools people are using and what apps are popular. When you leave that environment, much of that informal support disappears, and information sources about cybersecurity can become more unreliable.

But one thing that really stood out in our research was a loss of confidence. People start to doubt their ability to do things for themselves. Once confidence drops, they become reluctant to try new things—even installing software or updates—because they worry they might “break the computer” or do something wrong.

I feel bait and switched.

The headline suggested digital illiteracy isn't the reason. But then they said that digital illiteracy--due to being out of the loop--is the reason.

:eye-roll:

Anyway, thought I'd share because Stackers might be interested in this topic.