Elder fraud reports jump 14%, losses top $3.4B
FBI reports elder fraud complaints rose 14% in 2023 with losses exceeding $3.4 billion, driven primarily by tech support and investment scams targeting Americans aged 60+.
Sourcefbi.gov — open the original
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The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) documented a significant increase in elder fraud during 2023, with complaints rising 14% and associated losses climbing 11% to over $3.4 billion. More than 101,000 victims aged 60 and older reported fraud incidents, with the average victim losing $33,915. Tech support scams were the most frequently reported scheme with nearly 18,000 elderly victims, while investment scams proved the costliest, accounting for over $1.2 billion in losses alone.
The report highlights that older Americans are disproportionately impacted by fraud compared to other demographics, with victims under 20 reporting significantly fewer incidents. Cryptocurrency emerged as a notable facilitator of elder fraud, with over 12,000 elderly victims reporting it as a tool used in scams against them. Business email compromise, confidence/romance scams, government impersonation, and personal data breaches also caused hundreds of millions in losses.
The FBI emphasizes that these figures likely underrepresent the true scope of elder fraud, as many crimes go unreported and only about half of IC3 fraud complaints in 2023 included victim age information. The Bureau continues to prioritize combating financial exploitation of seniors through investigation of individuals and criminal organizations perpetrating these schemes.
Source reporting: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/elder-fraud-in-focus
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