As telecommunication fraud continues to grow exponentially, with reported losses in 2022 of $530 million in Canada^[1] and nearly $40 billion in the United States^[2], it's clear that spam affects pretty much everyone. There are certain groups, however, who are specifically targeted by scammers and thus more vulnerable than everyone else. These groups include seniors, recent immigrants, children, and those who are financially insecure. If you belong, or know anyone who belongs, to these groups, it's important to stay informed and be extra cautious when it comes to spam.

Seniors

Much has been written already about how spam affect seniors including specific scams like medicare scams, social security scams, and the grandparent scam.

But are you ready for an unexpected stat? According to Protecting Older Consumers: A Report of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), adults aged 60 and above are actually the least likely of any age group to report losing money to fraud. The kicker is that when they do experience fraud, it statistically results in higher losses than any other age group. This is why seniors have to be extra careful with calls from unknown numbers.

Recent Immigrants

New immigrants are often less familiar with the laws of their new country, which makes them particularly susceptible to government imposter scams. There have been increasing reports of scammers targeting immigrants by placing calls to specific area codes where recent immigrants are likely to reside, such as border regions or urban areas.

Particularly popular among these is the Chinese-language scam, which remains one of the top three phone scams in Canada. These start with a robocall in Chinese, pretending that there is some kind of a problem, and then prompting the victim to speak to a representative from the Chinese Embassy, the police, or Immigration Services. Of course, they are then redirected to someone trying to scam them out of money or personal information, which could result in huge losses down the road.

Children

According to a 2021 census by Common Sense Media, approximately one third of children ages 8-9 own a mobile phone, and by age 18 that number jumps all the way up to 93%.^[3] For obvious reasons, children (especially younger ones) are generally more susceptible to falling for a scam and providing private information to scammers than adults are, and should be protected accordingly.

Financially Insecure Populations

Scammers love taking advantage of desperation, insecurity, and uncertainty, which makes those struggling with money very vulnerable. A popular scam in the U.S. involved "debt relief", where scammers targeted consumers with credit card debt, fraudulently offering to negotiate with their creditors for a hefty up-front fee, and then of course not delivering on any debt relief whatsoever. Similarly, student loan scams falsely promise to reduce loan amounts, taking advantage of confusion over real governmental programs that legitimately pause or eliminate student loan debt.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Vulnerable Loved Ones

1. If you receive a call or text from an unknown number, use Whois by SIPSTACK to see its risk rating score. This will allow you to determine whether or not it is safe before you decide to respond.
2. If you find out the number does belong to a scammer, rate and review it in the Whois portal, so members of your community can protect themselves as well.
3. Create an account and verify your number with Whois. This will put you on the "Do Not Call List" from verified spam numbers and other unwanted telemarketers.

How SIPSTACK Fights Fraud

Using the latest technology and machine learning, SIPSTACK's systems authenticate all activity in real time against variables that affect your security. When a carrier implements SIPSTACK's Smart CNAM, they are able to customize a threshold for calls to pass through, based on their specific needs. Additionally, Whois by Sipstack is the biggest and best AI-powered reverse lookup database that individuals can use to help eradicate spam. At SIPSTACK, we take an active role in ensuring we are building a secure and connected tomorrow. Contact us today to learn how you can protect yourself from spam.

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