Bedrägeriförsök genom social engineering bland äldre i Sverige

The study tries to look into fraud attempts aimed at elderly people in Sweden through social engineering. As society digitalizes at a faster pace, cybercrime expands and exploits human vulnerabilities through social and emotional manipulation, and not just technical weaknesses. This development makes elderly people important targets due to limited digital competence, declining cognitive abilities, and social and digital exclusion. Even though there is research regarding digital fraud, there seem to be not many studies focusing on the core factors that make elderly people a selected target for fraud with the help of social engineering in Swedish context. With a survey-based research strategy, this study collects data through semi-structured interviews as its main method. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis, showing three key finding themes: digital insecurity, manipulative strategies, and the need for social support. The findings show that elderly people struggle with digital tools and have less awareness of manipulation methods. Elderly people rely heavily on family members to help them with cybersecurity. This lack of independence and motivation can make them less resilient to threats. The study shows that targeted education, improvement of information for the elderly, and support from institutions and society may reduce their vulnerability to fraud using social engineering methods. Future research should look into preventative methods and what responsibility could be shared with banks and other societal participants. This could help elders feel more secure using digital tools and feel less excluded from the digitalization of society.