Elderly in Bengaluru prime targets for escalating financial scams

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: In Bengaluru, a growing concern emerges as elderly residents face escalating threats of financial fraud.

With increasing reports of scams targeting the elderly population, the city grapples with the urgent need to address and mitigate the risks faced by its senior citizens in the realm of financial security.

Recently, News Trail reported about a retired government employee losing his pension amount to cyber fraudsters who misused his Aadhaar number and biometrics linked to his bank account in the city.

Earlier, a 61-year-old retired principal lost his life savings after unwittingly falling into a trap set by cyber fraudsters. In his complaint, he alleged that the fraudsters had promised to secure him a Go Gas company dealership in Karnataka and siphoned off Rs 45,80,300 from him.

Various cases have been re por ted where cyber fraudsters targeted senior citizens, robbing them of their hard-earned savings.

While the nation makes significant strides in digital adoption, especially in banking and online transactions, elderly individuals, who may be more susceptible and less tech-savvy, face the dark side of these advancements.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, the number of fraud cases reported by banks has been steadily increasing over the past few years.

This is due to the fact that criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their tactics and are preying on poor, less educated, or elderly people for easy money-making.

 A city-based elderly woman, Meera, allegedly lost Rs 1,80,000 in an online KYC update scam. Speaking to News Trail, she revealed that she received a call from a stranger who claimed to be a bank employee on January 27.

He informed her that she needed to update her KYC details for her bank account. The caller provided Meera with a number to call customer care for an update.

When Meera called the given number and inquired about the KYC update, the person instructed her to provide the OTP number she received on her mobile phone.

Meera provided the OTP number, only to find out later that the entire call was a scam. The cyber criminals had used Meera’s OTP number to steal Rs 1.8 lakhs from her bank account. In order to execute such scams, the fraudsters, who are mostly illiterate and not as technologically adept as assumed, require elaborate plans to wipe off senior citizens’ accounts.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda often comes up with different forms of awareness programs to alert citizens regarding cyber frauds.

"When we hear about hackers and cybercriminals, people generally have a perception that these crooks must be masterminds or tech experts. However, this is far from the truth," he told News Trail.

He explained that the scammers are neither technically skilled nor well-educated. However, they follow certain tricks, luring gullible victims into their traps.

"The only way to avoid getting trapped in cyber frauds is to stay alert and verify any information shared with you by marketing callers," the Police Commissioner added.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Cyber Crime, Yeshwanth Kumar said that senior citizens can be one step ahead of such criminals by remaining cautious on social media and setting a limit to the personal information shared. It is also better to disable location sharing on their mobile phones when not needed.

"It is recommended that people only connect with known individuals and that sometimes scammers may pose as trustworthy entities but will often retreat when questioned," he said.