Kids these days just know everything is a scam or BS, but I can't seem to convince my parents' generation that someone would lie to them via e-mail.

I think it's worth pushing back on this. Deception works when it's unexpected, and if the medium is something politicians aren't familiar with, they may not even be looking for the kinds of deception they're being targeted with. They think themselves hardened to deception, but they may not be open-minded enough to even realize there are forms of deception they haven't prepared for.