According to the latest Elder Fraud Report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 2023 brought losses of more than $3.4 billion to those over 60 years old in the United States, thanks to an increasing variety of targeted scams.
“This report underscores the fact that seniors are a particularly vulnerable victim group and are often specifically targeted for fraud by bad actors,” Mehtab Syed, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, said. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners have prioritized efforts to address elder fraud and encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud or know of a senior who may be, to immediately report the incident to the FBI or another law enforcement agency.”
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cyber criminals are successfully continuing to profit from the modern world’s dependence on technology, with a mix of phishing, spoofing, extortion, and various types of web-based fraud. The agency received more than 880,000 complaints and tracked potential losses of more than $12.5 billion last year, with the significant aforementioned chunk of them belonging to the elderly.
In fact, the $3.4 billion associated with those over 60 years old represented an 11 percent increase in 2022’s reported losses and coincided with a 14 percent increase in older victim’s complaints. Tech support and investment scams were the worst of these efforts. The IC3 noted that nearly 18,000 older complainants reported cases of tech support fraud, and the agency tracked almost $600 million in reported losses. Invest scams, however, brought costly losses of more than $1.2 billion to the same age group.
Still, call center schemes also continue to overwhelmingly target older adults, costing them almost $770 million last year. The FBI noted that complainants from that group reported losses to those scams higher than all other age groups combined, with many forced to reportedly remortgage or foreclose homes, empty retirement accounts and borrow from family and friends to cover losses. Some, the FBI reported, may have even taken their own lives due to the loss of income or the shame of the situation.
California has proven particularly fertile ground for these scams. More than 11,000 complaints poured out of that state in 2023, and saw $620 million in losses. Scams can range from confidence and romance schemes, to cryptocurrency or investment schemes. Some are complex financial crimes and others prey on dating websites and peoples’ need for socialization and companionship.
Following the report, the FBI urged people to watch for scam attempts and never attempt to engage with known or suspected scammers, search online for contact information after any proposed offers, resist any urge to act quickly, never hand out personally identifiable information or money, be wary of downloads and take precautions to protect their identity, among other measures.