A Brain-Based Explanation For Why Old People Get Scammed

All brain functions are in decline throughout most of our lives, I doubt any one specific area has much more of an impact than any other. Judgement, trust, memory, reasoning, caution, etc.

Up to a certain point, sheer experience helps prevent older folks from being scammed, but somewhere there's going to be a tipping point in most people's cognitive skills in general that make them an easier mark. A headline like "Elderly found to be easier to scam!" just gets "no kidding!" from me.

I'd also wager the average 85 yr old is easier to coax into a stranger's car than the average 5 yr old.

I'm sure I'll get a reply from one or two telling me their Aunt Gracie was sharp as a whip till the day she died at 90, and you'll run into that from time to time, but those people are by far the exception to the rule.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/Ns1_PUWVOAU/story01.htm

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