Time trends in susceptibility to scams in community-dwelling older adults

This study examined the time trends of susceptibility to scams across 4 birth cohorts in the United States that span between 1925 and 1944. Data came from community-dwelling older adults without dementia participating in an epidemiologic cohort study of aging and dementia. A 5-item instrument for scam susceptibility assessed participants' scam-related behaviors and perceptions, such as how they manage phone calls from telemarketers, and whether they agree with claims that are unrealistically good. To capture time trends, age- and education-standardized mean scam susceptibility score was computed for each birth cohort and compared across the cohorts. Of the 1037 participants included, 280 were born between 1925 and 1929, 248 between 1930 and 1934, 279 between 1935 and 1939, and 230 between 1940 and 1944. The mean scam susceptibility scores trended downward monotonically from the earliest to the most recent cohorts. The results are robust to age distributions, analytic approaches, or cognitive impairment status. In conclusion, older adults of more recent birth cohorts report fewer behaviors linked to scam susceptibility. This study suggests that scam susceptibility appears to be a function not only of individual-level factors but also reflective of shared life experiences. More broadly, scam susceptibility is amenable to interventions effective at the population level.