“Congratulations! You have just won a lottery of Rs. 25 lakhs.”
“Login to your bank account and verify your details within 24 hours or else it will be locked.”
“We have suspended your credit card. If you want to reactivate it immediately, please call us at xxxxxxxxxx.”
If your parents or grandparents have received the above SMSs or emails in the past, the scammers have tried to attack them.
Anyone can fall prey to online scams. But there’s a reason that many scamsters are targeting senior citizens in particular. Senior citizens often live alone, have high anxiety about things going wrong, very often are not aware of the latest scams, and have no one to turn to for clarifications.
Let’s understand a few more reasons in detail to know why senior citizens can fall for such online frauds because:
However, it is your duty to educate senior citizens about online scams and how they can protect themselves from these scams.
What Are the Online Frauds Targeting Senior Citizens?
Fraudsters these days have gotten innovative in their ways of scamming the elderly of their hard-earned money. Therefore, let’s find out details of the online frauds that target senior citizens:
1. Phishing:
We all love exciting deals, don’t we? And senior citizens are no different. This is the reason why they become a target of email and phone scams (phishing) offering low-cost medications, gift vouchers, etc. In this type of scam, the fraudster tricks the senior citizen into sharing their personal information like CVV, username, password, etc.
The victim receives a message or an email indicating the deal with a link to a fake website. When the victim clicks on the link, she/he is asked to enter sensitive information like bank account details, CVV, OTP, etc. These fake websites are designed to collect all the personal information used by scammers later to debit money from the victim’s account. In most cases, these phishing scams can be identified through silly grammatical errors.
2. Lottery Scam:
One of the classic scams that fraudsters have tried many times on both the younger and senior generations is the lottery scam. This scam involves a ‘congratulations’ message indicating to the senior citizens that they have won a lottery prize.
To claim the prize, the victim is asked to transfer a huge amount of money as processing fees. In most cases, senior citizens fall prey to the scam and end up giving away a huge part of their hard-earned money.
3. E-wallet Scam:
For years, our parents or grandparents have been physically going to the banks and ATMs to deposit and withdraw money. As the elderly are not well-versed with e-wallets, the scammers are making them the victims of the e-wallet scam.
These days, many day-to-day transactions take place using various digital wallets, and scammers have found various ways of tricking senior citizens into sharing their UPI ID or other sensitive information.
4. Banking Scam:
This may not be an online scam, but it is one of the most common frauds victimizing senior citizens. The fraudster will call your parents or grandparents and will pretend to be the bank’s representative. He will ask them to verify their bank account and will manipulate them to disclose their personal information like debit card number, CVV, etc., and will fetch all the savings from their account.
How to Protect Senior Citizens from Scams?
The above and many other scams are making vulnerable senior citizens their target. Therefore, it is your responsibility to educate the elderly about the precautions that they can take:
Our parents or grandparents may not be tech-savvy but with proper guidance, they can learn about the preventive measures to be taken and avoid being scammed. Also, they must know how and where to immediately report a fraudster if they come across any.
If your parents/grandparents have been victimized, you must immediately report the scam to protect the potential victims. The government has launched a national helpline number- 155260 to report cybercrimes and prevent financial loss due to such scams. This platform works in cooperation with all major banks, payment wallets, and online merchants.
Furthermore, when you report a scam, you will receive an SMS with an acknowledgment number and further directions to update the details of the fraud on the national cybercrime reporting portal: https://cybercrime.gov.in/.
At DMI Finance, we believe in complete transparency and make sure that the customers always have a secure experience with us. We never send out any messages or emails asking them to share money or personal information with our representatives.
For any doubts or queries regarding our services, you can always contact us on 08064807777, the official DMI Finance customer care number.
To learn more about the different types of scams, keeping data protected, and being safe online, check out our cyber security blogs: https://www.dmifinance.in/blog.html. You can also stay connected with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube for more information on cyber fraud.
FAQs
What scams do the elderly fall for?
The most common scams the elderly fall for are phishing, e-wallet, and banking scams.
What is the punishment for scamming in India?
Under section 447, the punishment given to a fraudster can vary anywhere between 6 months to 10 years and may also extend as per the amount involved in the fraud.
Who investigates financial crimes in India?
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) investigates financial crimes in India.
Can the PAN card number be misused?
Yes, someone can misuse your PAN card to avail of a loan in your name. This loan may not only be visible in your credit report but may also impact your credit score.
Can a bank account be hacked with an Aadhaar card?
No, a bank account cannot be hacked with an Aadhaar card.
