Why Are So Many Financial Scams Targeted Towards the Elderly?

Have you ever thought of why there are so many financial scams that are targeted towards the elderly? Why are large numbers of people specifically trying to swindle seniors out of the money they worked their entire life to earn through internet, mail, and phone scams? The FBI reports that seniors are one of the most targeted populations for financial fraud schemes. When thinking about this from a sociological perspective however, targeting the elderly for money making schemes makes sense.

  In 1979, Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson developed what they called routine activities theory. Their theory basically states that in order for a crime to occur there has to be three things: a motivated offender, a lack of capable guardians, and the presence of a suitable target. There are people that want to make easy money that are willing to resort to criminal conduct to acquire it. Those are the people that constitute the motivated offenders. Elderly people are often less aware of how to recognize money making schemes on the internet, phone, or by mail as well and therefore they are not as able to guard against them. And finally, elderly people in general often times have somewhat substantial wealth built up from a lifetime of accumulating money therefore are suitable targets for financial scams. 

This idea can be applied to almost every type of crime. If there are not any motivated offenders, a crime will obviously not occur. Likewise, if there are people around that can stop a crime from happening, or there is no target for a crime, the motivated offender cannot do anything illegal. Thinking like a sociologist and how individuals relate to, and with each other can help you to understand how crime works, and how you can avoid becoming a victim of it.