Older Americans more likely to blame scam victims for their losses

Older Americans are more likely to say that a person tricked into sending money to a scammer should bear the loss. In a survey by fraud prevention company Outseer, 42.9% of Americans 65 and over said so. Among 18 to 24 year olds, only 25.6% agreed.

What the survey found

From age 25 up, the share blaming the customer rises with each age group: 22.7%, 23.5%, 27.8%, 32.5%, and then 42.9% for those 65 and over.

Younger people lean the other way. Among 18 to 24 year olds, 55.4% said the sending bank, the receiving bank, or both should cover the cost. Among those over 65, 35.9% said the same.

The pattern seems to be a US one. In the UK and India, the survey found no clear link between age and blame. The share blaming the customer ranged from 18.9% to 33.3% in the UK and from 22.0% to 32.7% in India.

Why it matters for US rules

The question is about scams where a customer is manipulated into approving a bank transfer. In the UK, the Payment Systems Regulator splits the cost of in-scope claims of this kind equally between the sending and receiving banks. The US debate on scam refunds has far less regulatory clarity.

Outseer says any future US framework is likely to land differently by age. Older people lean toward personal responsibility. Younger people lean toward shared responsibility for banks.

Fraud and trust in the US

• 57.9% of US consumers have faced card-details fraud or seen it hit someone close, the highest of seven markets.
• 56.4% rank fraud protection among their top three reasons for choosing a bank.
• 39.2% of respondents say a fraud or scam experience lowered their trust in the provider.
• 60.0% have abandoned an online checkout because security felt too slow or confusing.

When asked which bank message appeals most, 33.9% of US respondents picked "we stop fraud before it reaches you."

About the research

The study surveyed 7,029 consumers across the US, the UK, Sweden, Australia, India, Brazil and Singapore, including 1,007 in the US. It asked about 14 types of fraud and scam, and about attitudes to liability. The research comes from a company that works in fraud prevention.

What to do

The report does not say what any US bank covers today, and no US scam refund rule is described. Ask your bank how it handles a scam payment before you need it, and whether it warns you before a risky transfer.