'Smiling' face of fraud that targets OAPs

OLDER people are less able to differentiate between genuine and fake smiles, according to a study by Scottish researchers.

Experts at Aberdeen University's School of Psychology said this could lead them to being more susceptible to cons.

Thirty-nine young adults aged 17 to 36 and 35 older adults aged 65 to 81 – all free from disorders which could affect brain functioning – took part in a series of exercises examining computer-based photographs of people smiling. They were asked to consider both the expression and the emotional state of each person.

The study, funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, discovered that older adults found it more difficult to detect the social meaning behind smiles.

They were more likely to ask someone for a favour regardless of smile type while younger adults differentiated between smile types and only approached someone with what researchers called an "enjoyment" smile as opposed to a "non-enjoyment" smile.

Researchers suggested older people could misread people's motives because they did not look as closely at the eye region of other people's faces as younger adults do.

They said: "This has particularly serious social implications. It suggests that older people are most at risk of becoming victims of fraud."

Twenty per cent of calls to Age Scotland's abuse helpline in one year have been about financial mistreatment.

Nick Waugh, Age Scotland's Senior Policy and Parliamentary Officer, said: "Older people have been subjected to rogue tradesmen using sharp practices such as giving low quotes but pressurising them into paying much more.

"Bogus callers turning up on the doorsteps have also been reported. In some cases the caller engaged the older person on their front doorsteps, distracting them whilst an accomplice sneaked into the house from the back and stole money or property."

He said scams – which can also be perpetuated over the phone or through letters and e-mails – were "greatly under-reported".

"Older people are often embarrassed and don't want to admit what has happened to them. Yet it has a significant impact on them. They lose confidence and then their health.

"They become prisoners in their home and don't want to answer the door in case something bad happens again," he said.

Over six months up to March of this year, 86 per cent of the victims in 85 recorded incidents of bogus callers and rogue traders in Edinburgh were over 60, and 54 per cent were over 80, according to Lothian and Borders Police. The force is now to roll out a crime prevention initiative piloted in West Lothian throughout Edinburgh. Older people will be given advice on how to avoid becoming victims – and "red cards" to show to cold callers.

Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, of Lothian and Borders Police, who is also in charge of public protection at the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said: "Older people are specifically targeted by unscrupulous criminals who take advantage of the fact that they can be more vulnerable to deception and fraud.

"Studies that increase the police service's understanding of why this is the case can help our efforts to prevent this sort of crime."

A recent study by Kings College London has found that an estimated 342,400 people aged over 66 living at home in the UK had been subjected to some form of financial mistreatment.

The Aberdeen University study is published in the latest edition of the journal Psychology and Ageing.