TWW-Protecting Seniors

Cyber Scams Target Seniors The Wired Word for the Week of November 6, 2024

In the News

Banking scams are on the rise, and older adults are common victims. In 2023, scams resulted in losses of $3.4 billion among people 60 and older. This was twice the amount of financial loss suffered by any other age group. Why was this? According to yahoo!finance, older adults tend to have more money than younger people, making them attractive targets for fraudsters. In addition, they are often less technologically savvy than younger generations, which makes them more vulnerable. Fraud loss is growing, increasing by 14% from 2022 to 2023 (based on complaints, not completed investigations), which makes it more important than ever to protect aging men and women from cyber scams. Fortunately, there are ways that family members and friends can help protect the elderly. Begin by being aware of common banking scams that target seniors: The grandparent scam. This scam takes advantage of the relationship that grandparents have with their grandkids. Fraudsters may call pretending to be a grandchild, asking for money. Or, they may pose as someone trying to help the grandchild. In either case, the scammer will attempt to get the grandparent to send cash right away, often using Western Union. Tech support scam. A pop-up or message will appear on the victim's computer, providing a phone number to call for help. After the victim calls, the scammer requests remote access to the device. Then, instead of fixing the alleged problem, the scammer gains access to secure information.

Sweepstakes, awards and lottery scams. In these scams, a senior is contacted and told that they have won an award. The fraudster will then request payment to cover fees or taxes. Needless to say, the prize never arrives. Government impersonation scam. Here, the fraudster poses as a government employee, such as a representative from the IRS or Medicare. The scammer will request payment or sensitive account information. Often, the request is accompanied by a threat of legal action or elimination of benefits. Fake check scam. In this deception, a scammer sends the victim a fake check for more than they claim they owe. Then they request that the recipient pay back the difference. Bank account and credit card scams. The fraudster pretends to be a representative from a bank or credit card company. They call and say that they are investigating fraud or an issue with an account. The scammer will then ask for personal information and gain access to a bank or credit card account. In addition, the Barracuda Blog lists five cyber scams that can affect people of any age. They include peer-to-peer payment frauds that target people who use payment methods such as Venmo or PayPal; AI-enhanced scams that impersonate trusted individuals; government account takeover scams that can include fake emails from the IRS; QR-code scams that lead people to malicious websites; and job listing scams. Fortunately, there are ways to help prevent seniors from falling victim. Make sure they are informed about common elderly scams, so that they can be alert. Set up bank and fraud alerts, which provide an easy way for seniors to spot suspicious activity. Help them freeze their credit, an action that prevents creditors from running a credit check and also blocks a scammer from opening a new credit account in the victim's name. Set up spam filters to help prevent fraudsters from reaching seniors via email. And finally, says yahoo!finance, teach seniors to be suspicious of scammers who urge their victims to act fast or share personal information. Seniors often feel ashamed of being scammed, but they should not. Family members and friends can offer to help, and then take action to alert financial institutions and change passwords. They can record the details of the scam by collecting and recording any communication with fraudsters. And then they should report the scam to local police, and, if the scam occurred online, file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. Although seniors are common victims, The Harvard Gazette reports that scams affect people "regardless of age, income levels, education, and IQ. In some ways, people who are smarter become victims precisely because they think it can't happen to them." Author and cyberspace activist Cory Doctorow got scammed with a fake message from his bank on the very same day that he was having a bank problem. And when John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, clicked on a fraudulent email in 2016, he triggered the hacking of Democratic National Convention emails. The lesson: Scams can happen to anyone. So take steps to protect yourself and the seniors in your life.

More on this story can be found at these links:

How to Protect Aging Parents From Banking Scams. Yahoo!finance 5 Cyber Scams to Watch Out for in 2024. Barracuda Blog You'd Never Fall for an Online Scam, Right? The Harvard Gazette

Applying the News Story

Cyber scams are targeting innocent people, especially seniors. Use this story as an opportunity to focus on the dangers of deception and theft, and how we can do a better job of educating vulnerable members of the community about online safety. Discuss ways that the church can help others in a practical and concrete way.

The Big Questions

1. If you or someone close to you has been scammed, how did you respond? What feelings rose up within you? What actions did you take, if any?

2. When, if ever, have you been a victim of any kind of deception or theft? How did it affect your attitude toward others? What impact did it have on your faith, if any?

3. What can the church do to educate vulnerable members of the community, especially seniors, about online safety? How is such activity grounded in Christian values? When, if ever, have you provided such help to another person? What specific assistance did you give?

4. Identify some of the desires or fears of a victim that leads to a successful scam. How can the Christian faith address these desires or fears in a way that lowers the risk of a person becoming a victim?

5. What positive steps can the church take to keep people on the good path that God lays out, reducing the chance that they will be led astray by fraudsters?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (For context, read Exodus 20:1-17.)

Soon after the Israelites are delivered from captivity in Egypt, God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first four commandments deal with the relationship between God and people (or first three commandments, depending on the system used for numbering), and the remaining commandments deal with the relationships between people, one to another. The beginning of this second section is, "Honor your father and your mother."

TWW Team Member Frank Ramirez believes that when we are told to honor father and mother so that our days may be long in the land, God "is not promising individuals a long life. It is addressed to society as a whole. Protecting the senior population who can no longer work hard enough to carry their weight at harvest and are vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse is a sign that the society will be long-lived. Scamming seniors degrades society. The same goes for all vulnerable populations."

Questions: How do you see scamming as an action that degrades not just individuals, but society as a whole? In what ways is the health and longevity of society improved by protecting seniors and other vulnerable populations from physical and emotional abuse? How does your church do this work, if at all?

Proverbs 14:15-16 The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps. The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless. (For context, read Proverbs 14:1-16.)

The book of Proverbs is full of guidance about wisdom, righteousness and justice. Many of the sayings of the book strike a contrast between the wise and the foolish, the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the unjust. The 14th chapter begins with a contrast between "the wise woman [who] builds her house" and "the foolish [who] tears it down with her own hands" (v. 1). The chapter goes on to compare "those who walk uprightly" and the "one who is devious" (v. 2); a "faithful witness" and a "false witness" (v. 5); the "wise [who] are cautious and turn away from evil" and "the fool [who] throws off restraint and is careless."

Clearly, Proverbs honors the wise, upright, faithful and cautious people who turn away from evil and fear the Lord. It also issues a warning to the "simple [who] believe everything," and are easy marks for scammers. Better to be among "the clever [who] consider their steps."

Questions: What is the danger of believing everything and being attracted to deals that seem to be too good to be true? How can the church do a better job of counseling people to be clever and "consider their steps"? How is such prudence a Christian virtue?

Acts 6:1 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. (For context, read Acts 6:1-6.)

After the first followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, the church grew among the non-Jewish "Hellenists" and the Jewish Christ-followers called "Hebrews." In the sixth chapter, a controversy arose when the Hellenists complained that "their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food." Caring for widows had long been a priority among the Jews, going back at least as far as the book of Exodus, in which God commands, "You shall not abuse any widow or orphan" (22:22).

The complaint was addressed when the community of the disciples selected "seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" to perform this ministry (v. 3). They prayed and laid hands on them, and the seven became the first deacons of the church.

Questions: How does your Christian community care for widows and other vulnerable people today? In what ways are you involved in this work, if at all? How might online safety be an aspect of this ministry, and how could it be connected to the instructions of the Bible?

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (For context, read 1 Timothy 6:6-10.)

Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, a younger colleague, urging him to remain in the city of Ephesus and provide proper instruction in the Christian faith. In the sixth chapter, Paul gives guidance about true riches and reminds Timothy that "there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it" (vv. 6-7). Perhaps this is the Scripture verse that inspired the saying, "You can't take it with you!"

Paul recommends that Christians be content with "food and clothing" (v. 8), and not fall into the trap of the "many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and despair" (v. 9). While scammers might be motivated by many evil desires, one of the most powerful drivers of fraudulent activity is "the love of money [that] is a root of all kinds of evil." Paul has seen that once the love of money is in control, then "in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."

Questions: When, if ever, have you seen the "love of money" lead to evil? How might this love lead to fraudulent activity? How can the church lead people on another path, one that is focused on love of God and love of neighbor?

For Further Discussion

1. "More and more congregations, and ministries are being targeted by scammers and phishing attacks," reports a synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "These emails or text messages often pretend they are a pastor or bishop and ask for private conversation, or the need for a favor, or to purchase gift cards. These attacks are a phishing or spoofing scam. This means that the email account or phone number has probably NOT been hacked. Attackers are using an alternate email address or phone number, and contacts found using AI software." Have you ever received such an email? How did you respond? What can the church do to protect its members from such scams?

2. When Jesus watched a group of rich people putting their gifts into the temple treasury, and then saw a poor widow put two small coins into the treasury, he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them" (Luke 21:3). Why did Jesus honor the poor widow in this way? What did it say about his view of riches? How can we honor vulnerable people in the same way that Jesus did?

3. "Combatting the financial exploitation of those over 60 years of age continues to be a priority of the FBI," wrote FBI Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall, who leads the Bureau's Criminal Investigative Division, in a report. "Along with our partners, we continually work to aid victims and to identify and investigate the individuals and criminal organizations that perpetrate these schemes and target the elderly." Elder fraud is probably a more insidious threat than the report shows, since many of these crimes likely go unreported. Why do you think so many scams go unreported? How can the Christian community help to get justice for its seniors?

4. Not even the world of religion is safe from scams, as there are fake charities preying on vulnerable people. According to the website Stop Elderly Scams, "Scammers create bogus religious charities or organizations, soliciting donations for purported causes such as helping the poor, supporting missionaries, or funding religious initiatives. These scams can be difficult to detect, as they often mimic the names and missions of legitimate charities." Have you or a loved one ever been the victim of a religious scam? If so, what did you do? How can others be protected?

Responding to the News

Talk with fellow members of your church about your experiences with scammers. Discuss how you can protect yourselves and others. Identify a group in your church that is particularly vulnerable to fraudulent activity and develop a plan for increasing their online safety. TWW Consultant James Gruetzner says that the advice he received two decades ago concerning internet scam attempts still holds: "When you get a strange email (or text) from someone, call them and talk to them directly to confirm its validity. It was true then; it is true now."

Prayer

Help us, Lord, to be aware of the dangers posed by online scammers. May we be wise and able to consider our steps carefully, not foolish and willing to believe everything we see and hear. We pray all this in the name of Jesus, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Amen.