Fraudsters cheat the elderly out of CHF 400 million per year

Time and again, the elderly are fair game for fraudsters. This is demonstrated by the first representative study on the financial abuse of people aged over 55. Pro Senectute conducted the study in collaboration with the Anti-Financial Criminality Institute at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland.

09.10.2018 – The study shows that one in four people aged over 55 have fallen foul of fraudsters in the last five years. One in five suffered a financial loss. Overall, this amounts to a total loss of more than CHF 400 million per year.

Summary of the findings:

• Men (28.2%) are more frequently victims of fraud than women (23.3%).
• Western Switzerland has the highest number of cases (36.5%), followed by German-speaking Switzerland (22.8%) and then Ticino (11.7%).
• People aged between 55 and 64, and those over 85, are more frequently victims of scams than in the intervening age groups.
• 61% do not tell anyone that they have fallen victim to fraud.

Cases of fraud with financial losses occur in very different circumstances. More than 155,000 people were robbed in the past five years in a public area. Over 62,000 lost money when they were withdrawing cash from ATMs.

Using the knowledge gained from the study, Pro Senectute intends to provide the age groups affected with more specific information on how to guard against fraud.

For more information on the study, please click here.