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ABSTRACT: Objectives
As our social worlds become increasingly digitally connected, so too has concern about older adults falling victim to "phishing" emails, which attempt to deceive a person into identity theft and fraud. In the present study, we investigated whether older age is associated with differences in perceived suspiciousness of phishing emails.Methods
Sixty-five cognitively normal middle-aged to older adults rated a series of genuine and phishing emails on a scale from definitely safe to definitely suspicious.Results
Although older age was not related to a shift in overall perception of email safety, older age was related to worse discrimination between genuine and phishing emails, according to perceived suspiciousness.Discussion
These findings suggest that cognitively normal older adults may be at particular risk for online fraud because of an age-associated reduction in their sensitivity to the credibility of emails.
SUBMITTER: Grilli MD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8557838 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Grilli Matthew D MD McVeigh Katelyn S KS Hakim Ziad M ZM Wank Aubrey A AA Getz Sarah J SJ Levin Bonnie E BE Ebner Natalie C NC Wilson Robert C RC
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20211001 9
<h4>Objectives</h4>As our social worlds become increasingly digitally connected, so too has concern about older adults falling victim to "phishing" emails, which attempt to deceive a person into identity theft and fraud. In the present study, we investigated whether older age is associated with differences in perceived suspiciousness of phishing emails.<h4>Methods</h4>Sixty-five cognitively normal middle-aged to older adults rated a series of genuine and phishing emails on a scale from definitel ...[more]