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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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@gailjohn09 wrote:

I also got a message today on my mobile from a UK phone number,  saying to view my message go to a link.

which I didnt of course but older people might.

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Please stop branding "older" people as being suseptable to scams.  Not all of us are numpties when it comes to using the internet.

 

I am 70 and I have never fallen for any scams, either on the net or the many phone scammers that are out there.

Believe me, most of the members who come to the boards with complaints about scammers are the younger generation and it is us oldies who bail them out with information as to what to do.

 

Old does not mean stupid!!

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Too right! I'm thinking that's why there is a common saying "young and stupid"! You don't hear people using "old and stupid" (although plenty like to imply that).

A casual work colleague of mine came bouncing into work one morning several years ago, grinning from ear to ear. He was late 30's, early 40's at the time. We all asked why he was so happy and he got his phone out and showed us a message he'd received. According to him, he'd won a squillion pounds in the UK lottery. All he had to do was reply with his bank details, including name, address, phone number, then they'd supply an account number for him to send $5,000 which would cover all the taxes, fees and charges associated with sending him the money.

It took several of us all day to tell him NOT to reply to the message as it was a scam to steal his money. The only reason he hadn't replied at that point was because he's a hard doer and was planning on going to the bank that afternoon to take out a loan for $5,000. He wanted to make sure the loan was approved before replying. Even when he was leaving to go home, he was still convinced he was a multimillionaire. In the end, one of my other colleagues snatched his phone from him and deleted the message. He was not happy about it, but it was done with the best intentions.

I'd supplied him with several websites to look at and was quite insistant he did so. He came back to work the next day and thanked us all for saving him and was quite embarrassed about the whole thing.

That is only one incident (of many) where a "not old" person has (almost) fallen for a scam. While some older folk are trusting and do get caught, just as many younger people do too. In fact, these days, older people are less likely to get caught because they are up to date with the news, unlike the younger folk who don't know anything outside Facebook or Instagram. They watch or read about these things in the news, so are aware of them.