Financial scams: Why some older adults are at risk, with Duke Han, PhD

Speaking of Psychology

Kim Mills

Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.5 • 839 Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Financial scams targeting people over age 60 cost victims more than $3.4 billion in 2023. Neuropsychologist Duke Han, PhD, talks about why some older adults are at risk, financial vulnerability as an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, and how people can protect themselves and their loved ones from falling victim to a scammer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Anyone can be targeted by a financial scammer, but many older adults are especially at risk.
0:07.0	Scams targeting people over age 60 cost victims more than $3.4 billion in 2023,
0:14.0	according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaints Center.
0:17.0	The average victim lost nearly $34,000. Not all older adults are at high risk, but researchers
0:24.6	are finding that financial vulnerability could be an early sign of cognitive impairment or even Alzheimer's
0:30.6	disease. So how prevalent is financial fraud and abuse? What vulnerability factors put some older adults at particular risk?
0:40.7	What's the connection between financial vulnerability and changes in the brain?
0:45.2	And what can people do to protect themselves and their loved ones from falling victim to a scammer?
0:52.4	Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American
0:56.6	Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life.
1:02.3	I'm Kim Mills. Today we're coming to you from Denver, Colorado, where APA is meeting for
1:09.9	its 2025 annual convention.
1:12.5	My guest today is Dr. Duke Hahn, who will be speaking at the convention later this week.
1:17.2	Dr. Hahn is a professor of psychology, family medicine, neurology, and gerontology at the University
1:22.6	of Southern California. He is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, an APA fellow and a fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
1:31.3	His research focuses on factors that affect cognition and decision-making with particular interest in financial decision-making.
1:38.3	His work has been featured in many media outlets, including CNN, Reuters, and PBS.
1:46.0	Dr. Holland, thank you for joining me today.
1:50.8	Oh, thanks for having me, Kim. This is great. I'm a big fan of the show, and so it's good to be here.
1:56.7	Oh, thank you. So let me start by asking you how common are financial scams and predators,
2:03.1	especially the ones who prey on older adults? Do we know, for instance, how many or what percentage of people might be victimized in their lifetime?
2:06.5	We don't have great numbers on this. And the reason for that is because there aren't any
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kim Mills, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Kim Mills and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.