Pandemic Accelerated Senior’s Use Of Cell Phones And Other Technology

A person holding a stethoscope in front of a laptop.


The pandemic has caused many older Americans to become obsessive with cell phones and other technology which can connect them with friends and family.  A recent report from AARP found that Americans ages 65 and older are using smartphones and tablets more often for reading news and playing games as well as broadening their social-media use and doing more shopping online.  Another report from Nielsen found that Americans over the age of 50 are fueling growth in video-streaming services like Hulu, Netflix and YouTube.  The pandemic also forced many older Americans to learn how to make Facetime and Zoom calls to connect with friends and family, and to use streaming services to get entertainment online.

 

Cell Phone Providers Helping To Stop Elder Abuse

A person holding an iphone in their hand.


Effective on June 30, cell phone companies are required to verify that caller ID information transmitted during a call is accurate.  This should dramatically help lower elder abuse cases, which often start with someone calling and pretending to be from Social Security, your bank, or some other service provider that you used.  Under code name Stir/Shaken , the program is meant to crack down on spoofing.  By 2019, more than half of all cellphone calls were unsolicited or scams, according to digital security company First Orion.  Americans lost almost $30 billion in phone scams over the last year, according to a report by phone security firm Truecaller (Source AARP Bulletin, November 2021 Issue, page 6).

Pacific Grove, CA Elder Abuse Alert


Although anyone can be a victim of the many scams that criminals are carrying out now, data from the Federal Trade Commission shows that consumers age 80 and older are far more likely to be scammed by phone and lose the most money, a median of $1,250.  “Even if you do everything perfectly, you can still be susceptible to fraud,†Shameka Walker, a fraud and identity theft program manager at the FTC, told Kiplinger’s Retirement Report.  Most scammers are hacking in to find your email address and hawking you products that you may have been searching for.  Other popular scams are selling fake COVID-19 vaccines and PPE equipment to protect against the virus.