Early this month, a 74-year-old woman in Hyderabad lost ₹37.9 lakh — her retirement savings — to cyber crime scamsters, who had told her that her account was linked to a money laundering case. Just a day or so later, a 63-year-old man, also from Hyderabad fell victim to a stock trading scam orchestrated through WhatsApp, and, lured by the promise of substantial profits, lost ₹50 lakh.
These are not isolated incidents: they are part of a growing number of sophisticated cyber crimes in India, and worryingly, these seem to be increasingly targeting the older population.
Are retirees/pensioners more vulnerable to financial fraud? And does this have anything to do with cognitive decline? A research paper published earlier this year in the Journal of Political Economy, looks into whether or not older people are aware of their cognitive decline, and if misperceptions about this affect their financial decision-making.
The paper, by Fabrizio Mazzonna and Franco Peracchi, used United States population data, and documents the fact that older people tend to underestimate their cognitive decline and then finds that those who experienced severe cognitive decline, but were unaware of it, were more likely to suffer wealth losses compared to those who were aware or did not experience severe decline.
In India, where 3.8 million people are living with dementia (this number is expected to touch 11.4 million by 2050), and where financial resources may be scant or hard-won for millions of seniors, declining cognition and misguided financial decisions are perhaps areas that need attention.
Senior citizens who have previously been high achievers may continue to operate in the same way that they used to, often not realising that their cognitive capabilities are not what they used to be, says Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, neuropsychiatrist and founder, Buddhi Clinic, Chennai. “The ability to ‘shift set’ as it is called, begins to decline, which means there is a loss in cognitive flexibility, making it harder for them to adapt to new situations and to assess risks. This, combined with an increase in impulsivity, could potentially lead to errors or bad judgement calls in finances,” he says. While this weakening of frontal executive function is a normal part of ageing, it may be accelerated in someone with a neuro-degenerative disorder, he adds.
What may compound these situations, is that many senior citizens may not be aware of a gradual decline in their cognitive functioning. “Most elderly people think of it as part and parcel of ageing. It is often their caregivers/children who bring it to the doctor’s attention,” says V.S. Natarajan, a geriatrician based in Chennai. This can make them easy targets even in small financial transactions, where their forgetfulness can be used against them, he explains.
Studies have shown, says Dr. Krishnamoorthy, that distress and disability due to dementia are lower in countries like India – possibly due to the fact that many elderly persons continue to live with families, which in turn often leads to cognitive decline being exposed much later than it would be if they lived alone. However this situation, he notes, is now changing, with the population ageing and an increasing number of senior citizens living alone.
When it comes to being victims of financial scams, social factors play a role in how and why the elderly, are targeted.
“Scamsters tend to go for those elderly persons who live alone, those whose children perhaps live in another city or country. They are threatened with all kinds of consequences to have them transfer their money – emotional blackmail of a kind. Fraudsters also exploit their loneliness,” says Sandeep Mittal, Additional Director-General of Police, Cyber Crime Wing, Tamil Nadu. The other scam, of stock trading, uses their desire to earn money easily and quickly, to lure them in over the course of months sometimes, until eventually, a large sum of money is lost,” he says.
While cyber and other scams are one area where senior citizens are vulnerable, many are very often targets of their own families for financial gain, points out Anupama Datta, head, policy research and advocacy, HelpAge India, a not-for-profit that works for disadvantaged elderly residents. “They are persuaded to sign away their authority to a bank account for instance, or their rights over a property, even if they are not cognitively challenged. If their cognition is declining, it makes them more vulnerable to financial abuse. This is very common especially in cases where one partner is no more, and the older person is alone,” she says.
Not all of these cases even get reported, she says. For many, especially those who live alone, they don’t know how to go about reporting fraud, and, if it’s abuse within the family, it makes it harder.
What can be done? While digital literacy campaigns are being conducted by the police in several States, and notably, Prime Minister Modi in his Mann Ki Baat earlier this year urged citizens to be cautious about cyber frauds, more needs to be done in terms of educating citizens about exactly what to do, what government helplines are available, for a link between helplines and the police and and strengthening of the response system when such incidents are reported, Ms. Datta says. Doctors say senior citizens could come in for check-ups if they believe their memory or abilities are slowing down, and caregivers must be aware of these signs and seek help at the earliest where necessary.
Published – November 12, 2024 04:52 pm IST
