As senior fraud losses top $7.7 billion and AI scams boom, new Aura research reveals the growing burden on older Americans and their caregivers

BOSTON, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aura, a leading AI-powered online safety platform for individuals and families, today announced the launch of Trusted Family Access, a new secure, consent-based feature designed to help families protect aging parents and other adult loved ones from scams and fraud while preserving their privacy and independence.

The launch comes amid an online crime boom as fraud losses among older Americans continue to climb. Americans aged 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in losses in 2025, a 59% increase over the year before, according to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report.

Behind those numbers is a growing family responsibility. New Aura research surveying 2,000 U.S. adults ages 40–60 caring for an aging loved one reveals that digital safety is now central to modern caregiving: 70% consider helping an older adult in their care stay safe online to be a form of caregiving, while 63% feel they bear primary responsibility for keeping them safe.

“Families are already bearing the emotional and financial brunt of online crime, operating as digital caregivers without tools designed for that responsibility,” said Hari Ravichandran, CEO and Founder of Aura. “We created Trusted Family Access to give families a simple way to monitor their loved ones while keeping consent and control with the person they’re protecting, because online safety is now part of how we care for one another at every stage of life.”

How Trusted Family Access Works

Trusted Family Access helps families watch for signs of identity theft, financial fraud, and exposed personal information. With permission, caregivers can view information and alerts related to credit changes—such as new accounts or hard inquiries—suspicious transaction alerts, compromised passwords, public records, and dark web activity.

Adult Aura members choose the level of access and can change or revoke it at any time:

• View Only: Caregivers can monitor alerts and account information but cannot take action.
• View & Act: Caregivers can manage select financial monitoring settings, and update Vault records—including documents and saved passwords.

Built-in safeguards keep sensitive actions with the account owner. Caregivers cannot freeze or lock credit, dispute credit activity, take other credit-related actions, or contact support on their loved one’s behalf.

This added visibility reflects an often-overlooked part of caregiving, as helping aging loved ones navigate scams and online threats has become a meaningful responsibility for many families.

Inside An Invisible Category of Care

Additional findings from the survey of 2,000 U.S. adults ages 40–60 caring for an aging loved one highlight the scale of the threat families face online: 65% say an aging loved one experienced a scam or fraud attempt in the past year, with half of those targeted reporting their loved one lost money or personal information.

Nearly 1 in 4 caregivers actively doubt their loved one could spot a phishing attempt, deepfake, or financial scam without assistance.

AI is rapidly accelerating that burden:

• 81% say AI has changed the types of scams they worry about, with over half reporting that an aging loved one has already shared AI-generated content believing it was real.
• 44% identify social media as the top source of misleading AI content—though caregivers report the threat spans daily calls, texts, emails, and in-person interactions.
• More than half doubt their aging loved one would spot an AI voice clone of a family member, and one-third believe they would fall for it entirely.

Facing these sophisticated threats, families are caught in a difficult trade-off:

• More than 40% of caregivers have resorted to restricting or taking away an aging loved one’s access to technology due to fraud concerns.
• 81% worry that online scams could ultimately cause an aging parent or loved one to lose some of their privacy and independence.

For the Sandwich Generation, Another Layer of Responsibility

A separate Aura-commissioned survey of 2,000 U.S. adults ages 40–60 who care for both children and an aging loved one—or what is referred to as the sandwich generation—found that online safety is adding another responsibility to an already demanding caregiving role.

70% of sandwich generation respondents see themselves as the first line of defense when an aging loved one encounters a potential scam, while just 9% believe their loved one would handle it independently.

That responsibility creates a recurring time and emotional burden:

• Nearly 75% often or sometimes help determine whether an aging loved one is being targeted by or has fallen victim to a scam, with 1 in 4 spending at least three hours each month on digital safety.
• 1 in 3 worry daily that an aging loved one could fall victim to a scam, while the vast majority worry multiple times a month or more.

The impact extends far beyond the incident itself:

• About 1 in 3 say helping an aging loved one recover from a scam took at least a week, while 14% say recovery is still ongoing.

Safety Without Sacrificing Independence

Designed to help families navigate this tension, Trusted Family Access is now available on web and mobile, with View Only access and initial View & Act capabilities. Additional View & Act functionality will roll out in the coming weeks. In addition to direct-to-consumer availability, Aura will expand Trusted Family Access to its Employee Benefits channel, enabling employers to offer identity and fraud protection that extends support to employees’ aging loved ones.

To learn more, visit buy.aura.com/better-protection-tfa. Aura’s research into digital caregiving and the sandwich generation can be seen here.

About Aura:
Aura (ASX: AXQ) is a global leader in online safety and wellbeing. Built on the belief that people deserve a trusted, always-on layer of protection, Aura’s AI-powered platform delivers protection for individuals, families, and enterprises — from proactive protection against identity theft, financial fraud and online threats to tools that help schools and parents protect children from cyberbullying, harmful content, and threats to their wellbeing.

Aura’s platform spans the environments that matter most– home, school and work — empowering people of all ages with end-to-end protection for every aspect of online life. Learn more at aura.com.

Talker Methodology
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American caregivers aged 40-60 who help support an aging parent or loved one nearby or from afar.  The survey was commissioned by Aura and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Jul. 30 and Aug. 4, 2026. To view the complete methodology as part of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, please visit the Talker Research Process and Methodology page.

Pollfish Methodology
Pollfish conducted an online survey of 2,000 U.S. adults ages 40–60 who currently provide care or support to both an aging parent or loved one and their own child or children. The survey was commissioned by Aura and fielded on August 19, 2026. To learn more, please visit Pollfish’s survey methodology page.

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SOURCE Aura