Tricia Harte https://www.medicarefaq.com 1m 214 #scams

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

New Study Finds Nearly 2 in 5 Senior Citizens Has Fallen for a Scam

A new survey of seniors in America revealed 37% have fallen victim to a scam, and an overwhelming 73% know other seniors who’ve been scammed.

MedicareFAQ polled 680 seniors to learn more about their experience with scams, and the losses they’ve endured. Of those victimized:

• Top scams seniors have fallen for: Online shopping scams (30%), tech support scams (21%), phishing scams (17%), internet fraud (14%), and identity theft (9%)
• 49% lost money (avg. of $3,590 lost)
• 59% did not report it to the authorities

Why the lack of reporting? 42% of seniors say they didn’t know where or how to report it, 36% felt the money lost wasn’t “a lot,” and 22% felt too embarrassed.

The number of scams seniors are encountering is even higher, with more than half of seniors (54%) saying they’ve encountered a scam attempt so far this year. Phishing is the most frequent encounter, 9 in 10 seniors have received an email from a suspicious sender. While 83% know how to identify suspicious email links, 44% admit to clicking on suspicious links in the past.

The report breaks down different scam encounters and how well equipped seniors do (and don’t) feel to navigate them. Take a look at the full results and let me know if you’d like to share with your audience in the coming days.

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