this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
12 points (100.0% liked)
Aotearoa / New Zealand
1549 readers
16 users here now
Kia ora and welcome to !newzealand, a place to share and discuss anything about Aotearoa in general
- For politics , please use [email protected]
- Shitposts, circlejerks, memes, and non-NZ topics belong in [email protected]
- If you need help using Lemmy.nz, go to [email protected]
- NZ regional and special interest communities
Rules:
FAQ ~ NZ Community List ~ Join Matrix chatroom
Banner image by Bernard Spragg
Got an idea for next month's banner?
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What is it that happens when you get "old" that makes you think a cop asking for cash is legitimate? What's the hook?
Or perhaps (trying desperately to avoid victim blaming) what can we do to help "oldies" to be less susceptible to scams like this?
I get that it might be common in more corrupt parts of the world, and is arguably a slightly less scammy protection racket.
Not sure about age 56 but by the time you get to 90, many people's brains just aren't what they used to be. If you're a scammer, it doesn't matter if 9/10 people see you coming, you just latch onto the 1/10 that can't tell they are being scammed.
By 90 my grandmother had a Benjamin Button memory. She didn't recognise the youngest grandkids, over time she couldn't remember the oldest ones, and then her kids started fading from her memory starting with the youngest.
Even before that point, in her 80s (like most of these victims), if you walked up to her, said you're a police officer and need her EFTPOS PIN to investigate fraud, she would have told you it.
It's not all natural either. I've recently learned about anticholinergic burden and am annoyed I didn't know sooner because with the health system the way it is now (so many locums, no continuity of care, overworked hospitals) elderly people really need their family looking out for stuff like this.
Interesting, and good to know! I just assumed the cognitive decline of my grandmother's cognition was partly because her diet was 50% butter or thereabouts, but maybe there was more to it 🙂