One might think today's sandwichgeneration has enough to worry about, with caring for their kidsand aging parents simultaneously, all while juggling a job and apersonal life. Now, with the proliferation of scams in the midst ofthe coronavirus pandemic, how do caregivers – the majority of whomare women – stay on top of that and everything else? Among theclients you work with, chances are many of their employees who arecaring for others are facing these challenges more than ever.
That's because the pandemic has created a perfect storm thatseverely threatens the security of our personally identifiableinformation, or PII. Consumers are spending more time on websites, social mediaand especially video chats. Meanwhile, an increasing number ofmalicious cybercriminals are pulling out all the stops to takeadvantage of peoples' emotions and uncertainty to defraud consumers. They're unleashingeverything in their arsenal, from phishing emails and fake texts,to robocalls and zoombombing.
The people most targeted? Your kids and yourparents.
Ironically, keeping kids and older adults safe at home hascreated an even greater window of opportunity for identity thievesand scammers. First, children are virtually living online rightnow, taking classes, gaming and hanging out with friends on socialmedia (TikTok, anyone?). And seniors, with a heightened anxietyover the disease's impact, have even more free time to take calls,check emails or leaf through their daily mail.
Second, according to Consumer Affairs, these two demographics aretargeted aggressively. Children are often singled out because bystealing a child's Social Security number, identity thieves canestablish a fraudulent "clean slate." And some studies suggest that peoplebecome more trusting as they age, which may explain why seniors aremore prone to being taken in by phone, email and internet phishingscams. This is cause for concern right now, as financialinformation and medical information is especially sensitive.
Identity theft made easy
Identity theft takes on many forms, from tax fraud and financialtheft to fake websites and imposter scams. It can start with aninternet scam or someone stealing info from your mailbox. It couldbe your driver's license, a username and password, or medicalrecords, all of which are considered forms of identity theft.
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