Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Scam Vulnerability Among The Elderly - Coggle Diagram
Scam Vulnerability Among The Elderly
Harder To Recognise
Deepfake impersonation
S$54.9M lost in a single deepfake scam impersonating officials
Official disguises
Government official impersonation scams doubled to 3,363 cases
84% contacted online
Most scams now originate on social media/messaging platforms
AI-powered tactics
Scams increasingly leverage AI for convincing impersonation
National Concern
Top 5 public concern
Cybersecurity and scams rank among top 5 concerns for Singaporeans
300M + scam
"Very concerning'
SPF 2026: "still very concerning" despite decline
Over 260M calls blocked
MDDI 2026: Singapore blocked 260M+ scam calls in 2025
Government priority
SPF 2026: Scams are a "key government priority"
Scale & Persistence
Still rising in 2026
A standing government priority
S$ 913M lost in 2025
Human-Decision Making
Not just tech
Problem is human decision-making, not just account security
Trust factor
Burton et al. 2022: cognition, trust, and scam awareness influence vulnerability
81.8% self-effected
Victims authorised transfers themselves
Low skepticism in scam test
Yu et al. 2023: seniors engaged with impersonation scams without enough skepticism
Digital literacy helps
Li et al. 2024: higher digital literacy reduces fraud vulnerability
Hits Seniors Hardest
Only group rising, 2024 --> 2025
Only age group where victim numbers increased from 2024–2025
Impersonation scams hit them hardest
Highest average loss: S$37,000
Highest average loss among all age groups (MHA 2026)
15% of victims
Seniors are 15% of all scam victims
34% of Phishing victims
Seniors disproportionately affected by official impersonation scams
Protection Gaps
Singpass barrier
8% of seniors lack Singpass; 9% with accounts are inactive
Warnings does not reach seniors
Button et al. 2024: anti-scam info doesn't always reach older adults
Family preferred source
Seniors prefer friends/family for scam-prevention advice
"Bewildering" tools
Lim 2026: Singpass can be "bewildering and disempowering"
Skills Gap
Digital literacy matters
Li et al. 2024: higher digital literacy reduces scam risk
Not an awareness gap
Problem is ability to verify, not just knowing scams exist
Independent verification
Seniors lack confidence to verify suspicious requests
Social isolation risk
Duke-NUS: digital use linked to lower social isolation risk