Role of digital socialisation of the elderly in protecting against telephone fraud

The study is relevant for sociological theory and public practice, as it is devoted to the analysis of the role of digital socialisation of older people in protecting against telephone fraud. The purpose of the study is to characterise modern telephone fraud and identify the features of the role of digital socialisation of older people in effective protection against becoming a victim. Informational and empirical basis of the research: data of the Federal State Statistics Service “Distribution of the population who are active Internet users by type of settlement and gender and age groups”, 2023; materials of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center “Telephone fraud: monitoring”, 2024; results of a pilot interview with experts from among the staff of specialised police departments, 2024. The following has been revealed: there is a dynamic growth in the number of calls and messages received by the elderly people from telephone scammers; older people mostly count that they have a low probability of becoming a victim of phone scams; the main role of digital socialisation of the elderly in protecting against telephone fraud is to learn the rules and norms of communication in the digital environment and gain experience in remote communications. The results of the study can be used in the activities of specialised police units.