Hollywood appears to be taking notice of the cyber-attacks on the elderly, if two recent movies are any indication. In the movie The Beekeeper, the protagonist single-handedly dismantles a criminal organization targeting elderly in a fake tech support scam, when a friend commits suicide as a result of being victimized. In Thelma, the elderly protagonist falls victim to the grandparent scheme and takes matters into her own hands to recover her loss. The victimization portrayed in these films is the motivation for revenge against the cyber-thieves. In The Beekeeper, the protagonist makes a statement that hits at the issue:

Stealing from an elderly person is like stealing from a child. In some ways it’s worse. When someone hurts a child, there are people who care, parents to step in. When someone hurts an older person, they are often left to face the hornets alone.

The movies are of course fiction, but the truth is the elderly are increasing being targeted by cyber-criminals. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported recently that total losses in 2023 by those over the age of 60 topped $3.4 billion, an almost 11% increase in reported losses from 2022.

Fake tech support scams involve fraudulent schemes where scammers impersonate technical support from legitimate companies, such as Microsoft or Apple, and trick victims into giving them access to their computer or personal information.

In the grandparent scheme the elderly individual receives a call from someone pretending to be their grandchild or other relative in distress. The caller pretending to be the loved one claims to have been in a car accident, arrested, or in need of urgent financial assistance. They then request that the victim send money immediately through wire transfers, gift cards, or prepaid debit cards.

Pay back movies are entertaining to watch. However, in the real world we must focus on preventing cybercrimes and surviving if we do become victims. Todd Shipley and I are in the prepublication stage of our next book, tentatively titled Surviving a Cyberattack: Securing Social Media and Protecting Your Home. It is expected to be published this late summer/early fall by Mercury Learning and Information, an Imprint of De Gruyter Inc. We have a specific chapter with helping vulnerable adults survive in the digital world as well as other important chapters, such as protecting children online. Look for future announcements about this important upcoming book.