In regards to this topic, the "gullible" line of thought misses the forest for the trees, because it still operates in the mode of "it was your personal respons

In regards to this topic, the "gullible" line of thought misses the forest for the trees, because it still operates in the mode of "it was your personal responsibility [to not be scammed], and if you were, it is because you were gullible." This means the elderly are particularly vulnerable, as per your account, but it also means that there's less inclination to push for change and protection against scams like this from the general public in America. (I feel that in other cultures, such as Japan, the elderly tend to be regarded with respect for their wisdom rather than derision of their "regressing" minds). My anecdotal story to the contrary of yours: I have a friend who graduated from a top 10 US college a few years ago and couldn't find a job. Right when they were desperately filing for applications and feeling very worried about their future (as recent college graduates are wont to do), this person received a call from 911 that fell exactly into this class: >Impersonations of government employees accounted for ~60% of these cases. The "911" was from the local police department of the city where they lived. The person was told that a warrant for their arrest has been issued - that 3 years before, there was a particular document to be filed with the IRS that had to declare all scholarship money awarded for a particular scholarship, and according to their documents, that document is three years overdue and has already incurred $700 in fines. The amount of time elapsed since the due date warranted x many jail days without immediate payment, and a mark on the criminal record... additionally, since this involves defrauding the government, their freshly minted university degree was about to be revoked. My friend is an immigrant. They didn't know that university degrees couldn't be revoked, nor that no such thing as "government vouchers" bought from a grocery store existed (this was the trick - when the person arrives looking for the vouchers at Target or Office Depot, the agent on the phone says that some gift card can be an acceptable form of payment instead). I took note of this scam both because of how elaborate it was, how believable it was (especially to someone less than familiar with the US government), how the person on the "911" call used psychological tactics to continue to make this vulnerable person more and more panicked about their future particularly at a time when they were already financially insecure. My friend was not gullible. But my friend did fear repercussions from the US government enough to completely fall for this scam.