Exploiting fear and vulnerabilities of senior citizens: are regulatory changes required to prevent digital frauds?

Purpose This paper aims to understand the emotional patterns of senior citizens when they digitally transact online and how the personality trait of neuroticism can be a vital part of being susceptible to fraud. The authors identify with the cognitive aspect of fear as a vista of neuroscience and behavioural finance in digital banking in today’s banking 5.0 where consumer centricity stands as one of the pillars of the Digital Payment Index of RBI. Design/methodology/approach This study is empirical and investigative in nature. Primary data has been collected through online questionnaires (via Google Forms) and the interview method to understand the phenomenology of fear and incidents related to becoming victims of fraud and its propensity. Findings The results exhibit that fear and emotional patterns do affect vulnerability and have a long-lasting psychological impact and susceptivity towards digital frauds. Practical implications Fear as an emotion is used to understand the emotional expressive patterns of senior citizens as consumers of digital banking. The OCEAN model is one of the widely used personality models at the global level. This research study helps in highlighting the nuances linked to the behavioural and cognitive part of fear in digital crime. Originality/value This research will be beneficial to reduce the susceptibility towards fraud from a behavioural perspective in the usage of digital banking and evaluate solutions for senior citizens to mitigate and cope up with the pressures and perils associated with digital frauds.