Senior citizens and businesses are prime targets for cyber scammers who aim to steal personal data through emails, text messages and phone calls, according to local experts.
"They want to get as much as possible. Especially emails and passwords, because once you have one, it just makes it really easy to reach out to one person's contacts in their email and just get another one. And it kind of just snowballs," said Tyson Walker, a support specialist for Data Protection International, a computer support services company in Jackson.
Walker has observed that certain demographics are targeted more frequently, including financial institutions, nonprofits, teens and senior citizens.
"Senior citizens are targeted because they tend not to keep up with these evolutions in technology. You know, a lot of senior citizens expect to receive a phone call from companies that they buy products from. That's why you see so many scams that are a phone call that's from Amazon, and then they get you to call their number. Then they remote into your computer and scare you with a whole bunch of other stuff," Walker said.
- Cyber scammers target seniors and businesses through emails, texts and calls to steal personal data.
- Local senior living facility educates residents after incidents involving gift card scams.
- Experts recommend password managers, two-factor authentication and consulting trusted individuals about suspicious messages.
At Vista Grande Villa, a local senior living community in Jackson, staff have witnessed the effects of these scams firsthand.
"We had an experience before where a resident, you know, went out to the grocery store or something, and we thankfully were able to intercept, but found out that they were going to purchase hundreds of dollars of gift cards that they were asked to purchase from, what they didn't realize at the time, was a scammer. And so it's just a scary time," said Chelsea Eisele, executive director at Vista Grande Villa.
Eisele and her team have implemented educational initiatives to protect their residents.
"As a part of our state and national association, we are sent information on current scams that are focused on seniors. So we always get that information out to our residents," Eisele said.
Building strong relationships with residents is another key strategy at Vista Grande Villa.
"We work really hard here at Vista to build close relationships with our residents. And part of the reason for that is so that when something happens, they do feel comfortable coming to us, or asking questions, or leaning on us for advice. And scams are certainly a part of that," Eisele said.
Experts recommend several steps to protect personal information. Walker advises consulting someone you trust when receiving suspicious texts or emails, using password manager apps like Bitwarden instead of writing passwords down, enabling pop-up blockers while browsing, and implementing two-factor authentication for online accounts.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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