'Silver surfers' exposed to cybercrime

Older Australians are embracing the internet, but this is leaving them vulnerable to cybercrime, with one in five having fallen victim to online fraud.

Research from McAfee shows that 85% of Australians aged 50-75 use the internet daily. McAfee dubs this cohort ‘silver surfers’.

Silver surfers spend an average of 3.4 hours online per day - nearly the same amount of time as teenagers. Just over half (53%) of them have a social media account, including 48% using Facebook and 39% using Google+.

But the silver surfers may be at higher risk for cybercrime, as they may not be as informed about the dangers. The survey shows that nearly a quarter of Australian older internet users have chatted to a stranger online, compared to only 8% of tweens and 19% of teens responding to another McAfee survey.

“We know from our research on teens and tweens that these two age groups are at a high risk due to their fast adoption of technologies, but now we’re seeing the same trend with our older Australians and their internet behaviour - so cyber education at any age is critical,” McAfee Asia Pacific managing director Keith Buckley said.

Although 99% of older Australians feel they are careful about what information they post online, 76% have given out an email address, 51% a mobile number and 47% a home address. Nearly half (44%) don’t consider sharing these details to be a security risk at all.

But awareness may be improving, with 72% of social media users acknowledging that using social networks puts them at higher risk of attack.

Queensland Police Service detective superintendent Brian Hay said older Australians are falling victim to romance-related scams, lottery scams and identity theft.

“The key here is prevention and awareness,” he said. “We must deliver ongoing education to the older community to encourage them to protect themselves and to be aware of the risks, as once scammers get their hooks in, the threats get deeper and deeper.”

Image courtesy of KimSanDiego under CC