Alarm bells

Elderly people become victims of fraudsters – this may be a harbinger of dementia

Lina Medvedeva, XX2 century

Is it difficult for an elderly friend or relative to hang up after receiving an incoming advertising call? Or are they happy with voice messages like "You won a prize"? New research shows that older people who are not alert to fraud may be at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Cheating the elderly is a huge problem, but the study does not mean that the victims of fraudsters have already contracted dementia.

Scientists know that long before there are memory problems with Alzheimer's, people begin to have subtle changes in thinking and judgment. Neuropsychologist Patricia Boyle from Rush University wondered if the mistakes that make a person susceptible to fraud are one of the harbingers of dementia.

"When a fraudster approaches an elderly person, he is looking for social vulnerability, openness to talk to a complete stranger," says Boyle. Next, an elderly person must interpret the intentions and emotions of a stranger, often without any additional information that would help decide whether to believe him or not.

Boyle contacted the Financial Services Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which collects data for a kind of "risk meter", where they explained to her what behavior is considered vulnerable to fraud, in particular: answering calls from an unknown number, listening to what is said during advertising calls, is considered difficult to interrupt an unwanted call, not to exclude the possibility of potentially risky investments, not to understand that older people often become victims of unfair financial exploitation.

Patricia Boyle studied 935 elderly people, mostly aged 70-80 years, who had no obvious brain problems and who were involved in a project studying memory and aging. They filled out a questionnaire on recognizing signs of fraud and subsequently underwent annual brain testing for six years.

During the study, 151 elderly people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and another 255 were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, sometimes becoming harbingers of Alzheimer's disease. Participants with a low level of fraud recognition at the beginning of the study were more likely to develop these disorders than older people who are alert to fraud.

For a detailed study of 264 participants who died during the study, a brain autopsy was performed. A low level of fraud recognition was accompanied by a greater number of amyloid plaques in the brain, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

However, the study cannot prove a direct link between the low level of fraud recognition and the impending decline in thinking and memory, warns Jason Karlawish from the University of Pennsylvania in an accompanying editorial.

Karlavish cited as an example one of his patients who confessed to his grandson: "I thought it was necessary," after lottery scammers convinced him to "pay taxes in advance" so that he could receive the alleged winnings. It was just too difficult for him to hang up because of the courtesy of the caller. After three years, the patient showed no signs of cognitive impairment, says Karlavish.

Nevertheless, the results of the study should be a call to action for the healthcare system and for the regulators of the financial system, Karlavish concluded, calling in the article for further investigation of what he called "remarkable findings."

The possible link between dementia and the risk of becoming a victim of fraud is not surprising, the vice president of the Alzheimer's Association agreed Beth Kallmyer (BethKallmyer), and also spoke about the need for further research. According to her, older people may be reluctant to report fraud, fearing that family members will suspect that they have health problems.

Regardless of whether it concerns dementia or not, she advises older people not to respond to unexpected calls and emails from strangers, which will reduce their likelihood of becoming a target for scammers.

Previous research has shown that older people may have difficulty managing finances even with the normal cognitive slowdown associated with aging.

The growth of fraud aimed at the elderly has reached such a level that investment companies must ask clients for contact information about "trusted persons", whom they can warn if financial exploitation is suspected.

"When older people start making mistakes in financial, medical and other difficult decisions, we need to be more careful, think about whether they need help," says Boyle. – This does not mean that they will certainly develop dementia. However, we must be on our guard."

Article by Boyle et al. Scam Awareness Related to Incident Alzheimer Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective Cohort Study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

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