By Stephen Beech
Cybercrime is more financially devastating for older people than young adults, reveals new research.
Pensioners aged 75 and older are more likely to repeatedly suffer at the hands of hackers and related financial losses, according to the findings.
Between April 2018 and March 2019, adults 55 and older in England and Wales lost more than £4 million to cybercrime and internet-based fraud including hacking and social engineering such as tricking vulnerable victims into transferring money or sharing sensitive information.
Study lead author Ben Havers said: “Cybercrime is a threat to older adults who spend time online.
“Potential psychological and financial consequences range from anxiety and depression to disrupted emergency funds and dissipated life savings.
“We analyzed data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales in order to explore whether cybercrime risk varied among people of different age groups and other socio-economic characteristics such as sex, ethnicity, and presence of health conditions.
“Whilst cybercrime risk was higher among younger demographics, older adults were more likely to experience repeat victimization and financial loss.”
Havers, a PhD candidate in the Dawes Centre for Future Crime at University College London (UCL), and his colleagues analyzed 35,069 responses to the 2019-2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales, a survey administered via face-to-face interviews to randomly selected adults aged 16 or older.
Participants self-reported whether they experienced cybercrime once or more in the previous 12 months and indicated if it led to financial loss.
The research team tracked participants’ sensory, physical, cognitive and mental health as well as socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity and occupation.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that respondents aged 75 and older were least likely to report experiencing cybercrime, while those aged 16-24 were most likely – an expected outcome based on younger people’s increased internet use.
But the older age group reported more instances of repeat victimization and resulting financial loss.
Demographically, men and those who identified as black or of mixed race reported more victimization than women and white respondents.
Those in managerial occupations reported more cybercrime, as did people in worse health.
Because older people reported less frequent, yet more severe, cybercrime cases, the researchers suggest that shame, embarrassment or the fear of blame or disbelief may foster under-reporting.
The team encouraged initiatives to equip older adults to proactively identify and freely report cyber fraud.
Mr Havers added: “Future studies may account for the impact of social isolation and increased technology usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Health and social care professionals might spearhead prevention efforts to target the relationship between health and cybercrime, as many older adults experience declining health.
