Interviews

Old at cold calling risk

by Mark Rowe

While the UK Government is consulting on a cold calling ban to “cut off a key source of pension scams”, it’s important to tackle digital security as industry moves towards greater online management of people’s life savings after the widespread uptake of online banking services, according to an insurance company.

Aviva suggests almost three in four (73pc) over-45s with internet access have been targeted by an email scam. Of these, 6pc reported falling victim to an online approach. In comparison, 60pc of over-45s have been targeted by fraudsters via phone calls, with 7pc of those saying they were a victim of phone scammers.

According to the insurer, it means there is a 22pc higher chance of over-45s being subject to an online approach rather than by phone. The widespread nature of email scams also means more people have been a victim of such approaches than of phone scammers. Older generations are most at risk, with over-75s most likely to be targeted by fraudsters via email (76pc versus 73pc of over-45s) as well as telephone (69pc versus 60pc of over-45s). Over-75s are also most likely to have fallen into the trap of an email scam, with 8pc of those targeted saying they were a victim, compared to 6pc of over-45s.

Aviva’s latest ‘Real Retirement Report’ is in consultation with ICM Research and Instinctif Partners.

Comments

Rodney Prezeau, Managing Director, consumer Platform, Aviva UK Life, says: “Our research dispels the myth that older generations are technophobes. However, it also highlights the security risks that come with lives that are increasingly led or supported by online services. The government is rightly taking action to combat the threat of pension cold-callers in later life, but it is important we don’t forget the additional threats that exist in the digital age. The fact that digital advances have had a welcome impact in so many areas of life has left many baby boomers feeling their retirement plans and savings habits would have benefitted from today’s technology. As we move pensions out of the Stone Age and make increasing use of online tools, it is vital we ensure that consumers are fully safeguarded and supported so more people are encouraged to engage with their savings.”

And on the findings, Paul McEvatt, Senior Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager, UK and Ireland at Fujitsu, says: “Aviva’s research highlights once more the cyber challenge we’re facing, and the importance of creating awareness of it. Taking advantage of vulnerabilities is a fraudster’s bread and butter, and a gap in knowledge about how to protect ourselves online allows them to exploit the human interest factor, and dupe consumers into revealing their personal details by posing as a bank or supplier on email. Taking a proactive approach when it comes to security is just as much the responsibility for the consumer as it is for organisations. To combat these types of attacks, consumers should always report emails to their banking provider. No legitimate organisation will ask for security or banking details so consumers need to be suspicious of any email that requests this information. It’s also important for consumers to use a password manager to generate and manage secure passwords or use the built in password manager in iOS or OSX. The UK Government is working on the Cyber-Aware initiative in this space which will provide guidance for consumers and businesses but how wide reaching or successful the campaign will be remains to be seen.”

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