W Hudson Paper Assignment 1 CYBR7000

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University of Maryland, University College *

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Sociology

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Jan 9, 2024

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William Hudson CYBR7000 Paper Assignment 1 Due Date: 1/29/23 The Impact of Cybercrimes on Senior Citizens We are more connected than ever before with our always-on broadband internet at home and our cellular internet connections on our mobile devices. Banking, shopping, and meeting and interacting with others was traditionally done in-person, but with ever-increasing use of the Internet, these activities are now moving into the virtual world. Although the evolution of the way we use the Internet today provides us a great convenience, there is a dangerous side to its use: Cybercriminals looking to exploit a person for their own gain. Some of these criminals are focused on targeting a particularly vulnerable segment of the population: Senior citizens. As more senior citizens explore using digital technology, cybercriminals anticipate seniors won’t be as aware of the safety concerns and view them as potentially easy targets. These criminals employ numerous tactics to victimize senior citizens using tactics that prey on their low awareness to steal personal information, healthcare information, or money. Fortunately, there are some ways to keep yourself protected from cybercriminals that don’t require a degree in cybersecurity. In this paper, we’ll discuss why cybercriminals target senior citizens, what types of attacks they’re using and why, and what senior citizens can do the help prevent falling victim to a cybercriminal. Senior citizens are using the Internet to conduct more aspects of their daily lives and unfortunately, cybercriminals are taking advantage. According to data from the FBI Internet

Crime Complaint Center, persons over the age of 60 were the most targeted group and lost the most money to cybercriminals. Seniors over 60 years old reported a total 105,301complaints and $9.7 million in losses to the FBI in 2020 (Skiba, 2021). These numbers are considered to lower than the actual amount of loss since many victims fail to report the crime. Scammers are exploiting seniors’ general lack of technical knowledge and low understanding of the value of their identification information (Huey, 2021). Senior citizens tend to have large financial sums due to retirement and savings accounts, so any breach of personal information could have significant value to the scammer. Seniors are also less likely to actively monitor their credit reports to see if their identity had been compromised. Many of these crimes go unreported, and thereby the criminal never gets pursued. It could be due to lack of understanding of how and where to report a cybercrime or due to embarrassment of falling victim to a cybercrime. The lack of understanding of the value of their identification information, generally low technical savvy, high potential for large financial gain, and low likelihood to report victimization of a crime make senior citizens extremely valuable targets to cybercriminals. There is no one specific method of attack used by cybercrimes to exploit senior citizens. Scammers use several different tactics depending on what they hope to achieve. Bad actors will conduct online or telephone phishing scams to extort money from seniors. One common method used by scammers is to send unsolicited emails or phone calls to a senior citizen hoping to trick them into giving up their personally identifiable information, or PII. PII can include a person’s username and password, bank account information, social security number, or anything else that is unique to an individual. These emails and phone calls try to evoke an emotional reaction to help coerce the victim. It could be a request that may seem extremely urgent with dire consequences if the victim ignores, or a socially engineered attack where the scammer uses

personal details about the target. This is a common tactic used against all age groups, but senior citizens can be highly susceptible to respond to these phishing attacks. Another high-value piece of information that can be obtained from senior citizens is their personal health information, or PHI. PHI includes things like date of birth, address, phone number, or anything else to identify a person, tied to a medical record number, insurance information, or medical diagnosis. With this information, scammers can have medical procedures billed to another individual’s insurance or get medication illegally using the stolen information. This type of scam can cost the victim thousands of dollars in wrongful charges and make them less likely to be covered by future insurance claims. While these two previous examples are ways scammers steal and use stolen information about a senior citizen, another common scam targeting seniors preys on their loneliness. Romance scams are when a scammer fakes the identity of another person online, forms a “relationship” with a victim and attempts to extort seniors for financial gain. Scammers may pose as a long lost relative or a person who is romantically interested in the victim and ask for money, plane tickets, or other gifts (Crane, 2020). It’s sad to say, but this is by no means an all-encompassing list of ways hackers attempt to victimize senior citizens, but it does show that hackers can be remorseless when they target seniors with criminal intent. Seniors who fall victim to cyberattacks may end up back to work after retirement, or in a state of depression or anxiety due to the emotional nature of some scams. Even though there are so many ways online criminals target vulnerable populations like seniors, there are some easy ways to become a hard target on the Internet. Be wary of others’ intentions and what information is provided. Just because someone says they’re a long lost relative or a bank teller who urgently needs your banking information doesn’t mean that they are. Taking the extra step to verify who you are speaking with and not provide anything that may be

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considered private can help. Maintaining awareness of your surroundings is not only a valuable skill in the real world, but can be even more so online. Always be sure to use a secure website when inputting passwords, credit cards, or other sensitive information by looking for “https” at the beginning of a web address. Most browsers have a picture of a lock that appears before the web address in a browser to verify a secure site. Secure sites are important to use because they encrypt information as they transverse the internet, making them unreadable to anyone who the information is not intended for. One major reason seniors are targets is because they are unaware that there are mechanisms to help them deter and report crimes online, such as the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). IC3’s website is simply https://www.ic3.gov/ -- a very simple site to remember when a cybercrime needs to be reported. Reporting fraud to IC3 can go a long way to track and stop cybercriminals. Senior citizens are one of the fastest growing populations of internet users, and cybercriminals are figuring them for easy targets. Scammers are looking to steal the money, personal information, or medical information of senior citizens for their own criminal benefit, which can lead to devastating consequences to someone who is unprepared. By taking steps to protect themselves online and reporting instances of fraud or crime to the proper authorities, senior citizens can avoid a potential loss that could change their lifestyle for the worse.

References : Crane, C. (2020, March 19). 3 cyber fraud tactics targeting seniors and why they're so effective . Cybercrime Magazine. Retrieved from https://cybersecurityventures.com/3-cyber-fraud- tactics-targeting-seniors-and-why-theyre-so-effective/ Fazzini, K. (2019, November 23). Here's how online scammers prey on older Americans, and what they should know to fight back . CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/23/new-research-pinpoints-how-elderly-people-are- targeted-in-online-scams.html Huey, L., & Ferguson, L. (2021). What Do We Know About Senior Citizens As Cybervictims? A Rapid Evidence Synthesis . Sociology Publications . Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=sociologypub Skiba, K. (2021, April 12). Cybercriminals stole billions from older Americans in 2020 . How Cybercriminals Stole $1.8 Billion from Unsuspecting Older Americans in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2021/fbi-cybercrime-report.html

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