Authorities warn of a seasonal spike in scams from November through January that disproportionately target senior citizens using tactics such as romance, tech-support, grandparent, home-repair, government-impersonation and charity/sweepstakes schemes; the FBI lists these among the common frauds. UNLV cybersecurity director Greg Moody says seniors are especially vulnerable due to lower tech literacy, generational trust and age-related cognitive decline, and many cases go unreported because victims are ashamed or fear family repercussions. Henderson police are running fraud-prevention classes for seniors on Dec. 16 and Jan. 17 to help with recognition and reporting.
Authorities and a cybersecurity academic at UNLV warn of a seasonal spike in scams from November through January, with the FBI enumerating common schemes including romance, tech-support, grandparent, home-repair, government-impersonation and sweepstakes/charity/lottery fraud. Greg Moody highlights tactics that "pull on the heart strings," noting that many scams masquerade as charitable or personal appeals that exploit seniors’ willingness to help and difficulty verifying online solicitations. Seniors are identified as a high-risk cohort due to lower tech literacy, generational trust norms and age-related cognitive decline, all of which increase susceptibility to social-engineering tactics. Victim underreporting is material: many seniors do not report fraud out of shame or fear of family fallout, while local authorities such as Henderson Police are responding with targeted prevention classes on Dec. 16 and Jan. 17 at the West Henderson Police Station. This pattern signals a persistent need for outreach, education and fraud-prevention measures focused on older adults and reinforces cybersecurity and data-privacy priorities in the public safety domain.
AI-powered research, real-time alerts, and portfolio analytics for institutional investors.
Request a DemoOverall Sentiment
mildly negative
Sentiment Score
-0.30
