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The Aftermath of Technology-Mediated Scams: Strengthening Older Adults’ Efforts Toward Redress

Ankenbauer, Sam Addison ; Brewer, Robin N. (2026) — ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

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DOI: 10.1145/3805036 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   United States
Tags:   Affect, AI-Enabled Fraud, Cross Cultural, Digital Harm, Financial Fraud, Hci, Justice Seeking, Older Adults, Post Scam, Prevention, Recovery Scams, Redress, Romance Scams, Technology Mediated Scams
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Synopsis

            
A U.S. multi-method qualitative study of adults aged 65+ who had endured a scam within the prior 3-4 weeks. Researchers collected a Qualtrics survey from 44 participants, conducted semi-structured interviews with 15, and obtained one-week daily diaries from 10, with optional scam-related artifacts. Participants used corporate resources more often than government resources after scams. Financial loss was the most common material impact, followed by identity theft and credit-score damage. The place-based recruitment across five neighboring Midwestern U.S. communities limits transferability; most participants were white, reflecting those communities.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Prior scholarship emphasizes pre-scam prevention, awareness, literacy, risk perception, and scam-enactment mechanisms, while comparatively little is known about post-scam affective, social, and material consequences or older adults’ redress practices. Research also often collapses elder financial abuse by known people with fraud/scams by unknown parties, limiting understanding of their distinct trajectories. Existing evidence is frequently survey-based or secondary-data analysis.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
A U.S. multi-method qualitative study of adults aged 65+ who had endured a scam within the prior 3–4 weeks. Researchers collected a Qualtrics survey from 44 participants, conducted semi-structured interviews with 15, and obtained one-week daily diaries from 10, with optional scam-related artifacts. Interviews and diary data were thematically analyzed through an iterative hybrid inductive/deductive coding process involving two researchers.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The place-based recruitment across five neighboring Midwestern U.S. communities limits transferability; most participants were white, reflecting those communities. The follow-up sample was small (15 interviews; 10 diaries), and recruitment required recent scam endurance and willingness to disclose sensitive experiences, which may exclude people who disengaged or were reluctant to report after a scam. Diaries captured only one week of post-scam life.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Develop research, design, and intervention approaches that treat the post-scam as a sustained site of coordination, redress, and justice-seeking. The paper calls for equitable, transparent redress systems responsive to older adults’ lived realities, complementing prevention, digital-literacy, and in-scam disruption efforts.

          

              

    
    

        
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