The elderly are increasingly being targeted by online scam artists. In this case an 80-year-old Australian man ended up transferring over $300,000 over a two year period to a person who pretended to be his online girlfriend. “The thing that gets to you the most is the betrayal of trust,” said the elderly victim known as Robert. The issue of online scams that target the elderly is a global one and is not just limited to Australia. People need to be more cautious and aware about the people that they deal with online. There are a lot of fraudsters and scam artists who use the internet to take advantage of vulnerable senior citizens. It is important to take necessary precautions about what information to disclose online.
See Jordan Cutts and Emma Canavan, Grandfather scammed out of $300,000 by online ‘girlfriend,’ The West Australian, January 27, 2016.
