Scam Surge: Older Adults Lose $81.5 B to Fraud, Big Tech’s Inaction Fuels Risk
What Happened – Malwarebytes analysis and FTC data show that U.S. seniors (80‑89) suffered the highest median loss from fraud in 2024, with $81.5 B stolen from older adults in 2024 alone. Despite the scale, big‑tech platforms that could block malicious messages remain largely passive, allowing scams to proliferate across SMS, social‑media DMs, and email.
Why It Matters for TPRM –
- Fraud‑related losses expose downstream vendors (banks, payment processors, SaaS communication tools) to reputational and regulatory risk.
- Inadequate content‑filtering controls on high‑traffic platforms create a supply‑chain attack surface for third‑party service providers.
- Persistent scam traffic signals a gap in vendor‑managed anti‑phishing and transaction‑monitoring controls that must be addressed in risk assessments.
Who Is Affected – Financial services, payment processors, SaaS communication platforms, and any organization that relies on big‑tech messaging channels for customer interaction.
Recommended Actions –
- Review contracts with messaging, email, and social‑media service providers for explicit anti‑fraud obligations.
- Verify that vendors employ real‑time phishing‑detection, URL‑reputation, and transaction‑monitoring controls.
- Incorporate fraud‑loss metrics into third‑party risk scoring and conduct periodic audits of vendor anti‑scam programs.
Technical Notes – The primary attack vector is phishing (SMS, email, social‑media DM) leading to credential compromise and unauthorized payments. No specific CVE or software vulnerability is cited; the risk stems from policy and control gaps in content moderation and fraud‑prevention tooling. Source: Malwarebytes Labs – Lock and Code S07E08