Financial fraud targeting elderly populations

Financial fraud targeting elderly individuals has been documented in Brazil and Spain. In Ibirapitanga, Brazil, a bank correspondent, Diego Antônio Gutierry Silva Gomes, was sentenced to over seven years in prison for defrauding a 66-year-old retiree through unauthorized loans and fund transfers. The court ordered compensation of R$ 53,427.80 and the seizure of the defendant’s assets.

In response to such vulnerabilities, the Brazilian legislative chamber is debating PL 1453/2026, a proposal to mandate free two-factor authentication services that allow seniors to designate a trusted person to confirm high-value transactions without granting full account access.

Other recent incidents include a thwarted impersonation scam in Paraná, Brazil, where a criminal attempted to pose as a lawyer via WhatsApp to obtain bank statements from a 70-year-old man. Additionally, in Gandia, Spain, a 29-year-old bank employee was detained for allegedly defrauding an elderly resident of 25,000 euros by using unauthorized cards and interfering with the victim’s banking application access.