William Simpson
washington — Americans over the age of 60 were victims of so-called elder fraud crimes more frequently last year than any other year and were responsible for about $3.4 billion in total reported losses , according to a recently released FBI report.
Reports of criminal schemes targeting seniors in the US increased 14% between 2022 and 2023, federal investigators said, warning that investment frauds in which victims are tricked into transferring money to fraudulent financial institutions are the most costly for seniors. In total, more than 101,000 complaints of fraud perpetrated against individuals over the age of 60 were filed with federal authorities last year, the highest number of any age group nationwide.
FBI officials said Tuesday that the new numbers were “startling” and warned that while Americans are witnessing one of the “largest transfers of generational wealth,” the nation’s seniors are the most vulnerable.
There were 5,920 individuals over the age of 60 who lost more than $100,000 as a result of criminal fraud and federal trends last year, demonstrating that seniors are increasingly targeted and victimized, the report states. In many cases, victims are coerced into authorizing payments to cybercriminals, emptying their bank accounts under false pretenses.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, FBI officials urged American financial institutions to do more to help elderly victims pursue these money transfers.
“We need financial institutions to take action and take precautions… to help their customers stop being victims of crime,” officials said.
Authorities said Tuesday they hope the new report will shed light on fraud schemes and prevent future victims from falling prey to illegal scammers. Education and “difficult conversations” with America’s senior population will be key to these prevention efforts, they said, stressing that the sooner fraud crimes are reported, the greater the chance law enforcement will have of preventing money transfers. money and stop criminals before they complete their schemes.
Most senior fraud scams are not reported to authorities by victims, which authorities say makes it difficult to quantify the full impact of the crimes across the country. AARP estimated in a 2023 study that $28.3 billion is lost to senior fraud scams each year, 72% of which is taken by individuals known to the victims.
On Friday, a California man was arrested after investigators said he was allegedly trying to take $35,000 from two elderly people who had previously been victims of his long-running fraud scheme, which involved phishing attacks and two individuals impersonating be federal agents.
Investigators said Tai Su was just one component of a large criminal enterprise that disguised itself as a Microsoft support system and financial institution. Hackers would first gain access to victims’ computers through phishing schemes and then convince seniors to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from their bank accounts.
Su now faces federal charges and made his first court appearance on Monday.
According to the FBI report released Tuesday, tech support scams remain the most common form of senior fraud crime. But victims are not only targeted through technical means. According to the FBI, romance scams and those involving individuals posing as family members are also on the rise.
In 2023, law enforcement authorities received more than 6,700 reports of romance scams targeting individuals over the age of 60, costing victims nearly $357 million.
A federal indictment unsealed Monday in New Jersey charged 16 individuals in connection with the so-called “grandparent scam,” in which alleged fraudsters operated call centers in the Dominican Republic to victimize hundreds of Americans by posing as grandchildren asking for money.
Investigators said Tuesday they have observed a shift in the volume of scammers operating within the U.S. to international criminal organizations, including those located in India, Laos and Cambodia.
