These people are total scum, of that there is no doubt, but that aside, I can completely see where Buenchico is coming from.
A fool and his money are soon parted, and if people are willing to part with 00s and sometimes 000s on the strength of a phone call, then more fool them.
I don't care how old somebody is, parting with money on the strength of a phone call is nuts. I know a few people in their 80s and they remain sharp as tacks and there's no way they'd be conned like this, so I would suggest it's not an age thing, it's a gullibility thing, and there's not a great deal we can do about people being gullible, and gullibility affects all age groups, all the time there are con-artists at large.