I was reading about a scam campaign called āVulnerability Vulturesā that primarily targets people aged 60 and above. In 2024 alone, older adults reported around $4.8 billion in losses, according to the FBI.
The article details how attackers pull this off:
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They pretend to be from trusted organizations (banks, government programs, financial aid, etc.)
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They reach out through social media ads or DMs
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They move you off-platform to fake websites or private chats
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They use AI-generated voices, cloned websites, and fake relief programmers
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And finally, they steal personal or financial info
Whatās wild is how professional these scams look now. Itās no longer just broken-English phishing emails; scammers are using AI, impersonation, automation, and cross-platform targeting to appear real.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think older adults are being targeted so heavily?
- Do you think AI is making scams harder to detect?
- Should platforms like Facebook/Instagram do more to stop fake ads?
- How can we help family members (especially non-tech-savvy ones) avoid these traps?
- Do you think awareness or stricter laws are the better solution?
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