UK Finance’s Take Five to Fight Fraud campaign is using a new “scam bingo” game to educate the over-65s.
Authorized push payment (APP) fraud has skyrocketed in the UK, with losses 39% higher in 2021 than in 2020 and victims losing £1381.
The Take Five to Fight Fraud initiative found that although 87% of over-65s are confident about recognizing fraud, just 20% had heard of the five most common forms of APP scam.
Almost half of over-65s always verify requests for money or personal information before answering.
Criminals still target this age range. 37% of over-65s feel they have been contacted with a purchase scam, when a criminal induces someone to buy fake products or services.
A quarter say they have been contacted with an investment scam, and 32% with an advanced fee scam, when a criminal induces a client to pay an upfront charge for a reward, service, high-value products, or loan that never materializes.
Almost a third believe criminals will contact them by email, and over a fifth via phone. Despite being a typical method for fraudsters to reach victims, just 7% think a fraudster would SMS them.
To combat the issue, the campaign created a free Scam Bingo game to teach people about the most typical fraud and scams. Take Five hosts the game on its website, while Age UK runs bingo events in numerous cities.
Katy Worobec, MD, economic crime, UK Finance, says:
“While our study reveals over-65s feel they are confident about recognizing fraud and scams, it is vital to understand the evolving strategies criminals use to persuade individuals they are genuine.
That is why we’ve created Scam Bingo to empower people to challenge all unexpected requests for their information – it’s a fun way to connect and learn how to protect ourselves from fraud and scams.”
