UK Finance's Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is aiming to raise awareness among the over-65s with a new 'scam bingo' game.
The UK has seen a huge rise in authorised push payment (APP) fraud over recent years, with losses 39% up in 2021 on the same period in 2020 and victims averaging a loss of £1381.
Research for the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign shows that while 87% of over-65s say they are confident about spotting the signs of fraud, only 20% have heard of all the five most prevalent types of APP fraud.
Over half of over-65s say that they always check whether a request for money or personal information is legitimate before responding to the request.
However, criminals continue to target this age group. For example, 37% of over-65s believe they have been approached with a purchase scam, when a criminal convinces someone to buy goods or services that don’t exist.
Similarly, a quarter believe they have been approached with an investment scam and 32% with an advanced fee scam, when a criminal convinces a person to pay an upfront fee in order to receive a prize, service, high-value goods or a loan which never materialises.
Over a third think they are most likely to be approached by a criminal via an email, and over a fifth say it is most likely to be via a phone call. In contrast, just seven per cent say it is most likely a fraudster would contact them via a text message despite this being a common way for fraudsters to get in touch with potential victims.
In response to the threat, the campaign has developed a free to play Scam Bingo game to help people learn about the most common types of fraud and scams. The game is available on the Take Five website and charity Age UK has been enlisted to run bingo events at several of is cites across the country.
Katy Worobec, MD, economic crime, UK Finance, says: “While our research shows over-65s say they are confident about spotting fraud and scams, it is crucial to understand the changing tactics criminals use to convince people they are legitimate.
“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."