By: Amanda Reseburg

As financial systems become more global and complex, scammers and financial fraudsters get savvier and more devious with their plans to separate people from their money. Pvotal Technologies, a company dedicated to helping businesses maintain control over their technology systems, emphasizes the urgent need for digital awareness and security. The uptick in financial scams should be especially concerning for women, as according to a recent CNBC article, women — particularly elderly women — are more likely to fall victim to financial exploitation and abuse. 

According to data reported by the FTC, Americans lost a staggering $10 billion to financial fraud in 2023. One California woman lost over $2 million alone in a romance scam. The problem of online financial scams is pervasive and only stands to get worse as technology improves. 

Here, we explore why women are more susceptible to financial scams and what they can do to protect themselves from falling victim.

The Scammer Playbook

“Financial scams are not a new concept,” says Yashin Manraj, founder of Pvotal Technologies, a company on a mission to build “Infinite Enterprises” that give business leaders total control and peace of mind over their technology systems and businesses. “However, scammers have greatly benefited from advanced technology and AI. 

Before the advent of AI and ubiquitous financial literacy, scammers relied on certain “truths” about how to get rich quickly, garnered from dark web peer-to-peer networks and Usenet feeds. These tips and tricks of the fraud trade taught scammers that women lived longer than men and, as a result, were more apt to have healthy retirement savings. 

“Women were also once more likely to use a phone to make purchases,” Manraj says. “In addition, scammers found that women were more likely to follow through on scam offers that came in the mail and less likely to seek retribution when scammed.”

Many scammers fall back on these old tricks as they continue to target women online with financial fraud schemes. The underlying factors for why women are more frequently targeted still ring true, and shrewd scammers are also exploiting systemic inequalities and social conditioning to exploit vulnerabilities that are specific to women — living alone, longer lifespans, and expendable income, for instance.

Safeguarding Your Nest Egg

Knowing that bad actors are only getting better at scamming women out of their money, how can women protect themselves as technology evolves at lightning speed, giving scammers a possible advantage? 

“Financial literacy and education about avoiding scams can still be tricky to access or learn about, especially in disadvantaged or marginalized communities,” Manraj remarks. “To combat savvy scammers, families, government entities, and the media must collaborate to create educational programs that help vulnerable people avoid being taken advantage of.” 

According to Manraj, community spaces frequented by oft-targeted age groups — for example, women over 65 — can host monthly informational sessions about how people are scammed and what to look out for online and off. Safe online habits can be learned through law enforcement or even victims hosting these informational sessions at community gathering places such as the library, the DMV, or retirement homes. These learning sessions need to go over popular scam approaches and show people what to look out for. 

“For example, many older people may not know that scammers can create fake links that look legitimate to gain access to your personal information and accounts,” Manraj says. “Teaching these concepts can help women protect themselves, but the government and telecommunications companies must also implement more significant safeguards and regulations to prevent phishing scams, spam calls, and phone number spoofing. Managing the onslaught of sophisticated scam operations can be a herculean task, but it is crucial to protect vulnerable people.”

As Manraj explains, some communities have started offering “community audits,” spurred by younger generations of digital natives who help others in their communities review records and online behavior to search for vulnerabilities, set up safer passwords, and unsubscribe from dubious sites. These auditors can also help people often targeted by scammers set up monitoring services on their computers to catch possible fraudulent behavior before it wipes them out.

“One popular scam often used against older women is the romance scam, in which fraudsters reach out to vulnerable women, preying on their loneliness, and bilk them out of their life savings,” Manraj explains. “Scammers have been using AI to communicate with these victims in a way that sounds human and personal.” 

Experts like Manraj strongly urge people to meet individuals in person at least once before lending money or sending any personal information to them. It can be easy to fall prey to someone who sounds complimentary and romantic online, only to have them vanish one day with every penny one had saved for retirement. 

“Another popular scam that saw a resurgence during the last US presidential election was the appeal to women’s fight for reproductive rights and polarizing disdain for specific candidates across the US ballots,” Manraj notes. “Scammers built clones of popular election donation sides and tricked people into believing their donations would help steer the election or support their favorite candidates.”

The number of online scams will only continue to grow as technology improves and gives fraudsters more tools to access the pocketbooks of vulnerable women. From systemic disparities to the simple fact of longer lifespans, the reasons given for why women are more often targets of financial scams vary. 

“By recognizing why women are so often targeted and what steps need to be taken to keep women — especially elderly women — safe from financial scams, we can make strides toward a safer and more secure online community overall,” says Manraj.

Published by Anne C.