Most frauds aren't reported, so actual fraud is much higher
Older Americans reported losing more than $1.9 billion to fraud last year. That's bad enough, but the Federal Trade Commission says that since most cases aren't reported, the actual lost might be closer to $62 billion.
The figurecomes from the FTC's latest report to Congress.
"Through our cases, rulemaking, and outreach, were taking every step we can to stop scams targeting older adults and help them protect themselves, said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. This report highlights that work and the key actions of the working group formed under the Stop Senior Scams Act.
As in prior years, the analysis of fraud reports received by the FTC in 2023 showed that adults aged 60 and over were less likely to report losing money to fraud than adults aged 18-59.
However, when they did report losing money,adults over 60 often reported losing substantially more than younger adults. Consumers 80 and older reported losing a median of $1,450 to fraud, while those in their seventies reported a median loss of $804. The number of older adults reporting losses of $100,000 or more has increased more than threefold since 2020.
Tech support scams common
The analysis included in the report to Congress also found that adults 60 and older were more than five times as likely as adults aged 18 to 59 to report losing money to a tech support scam.
Older adults were nearly three times as likely to report a loss to a prize, lottery or sweepstakes scam, and 53% more likely to report losing money to a friend or family impersonation scam.
Older adults report losing more money, $538 milliona 34% increase over 2022, to investment scams caused than any other type of fraud, followed by business imposters at $311 million (up 16% from 2022), and romance scams at $277 million (up 16% from 2022).
The report shows that older adults reported losing far more money to fraud using bank transfers and cryptocurrency than any other methods of payment. Bitcoin ATM machines were frequent villains.
Gift cards continued to be the most frequently reported payment method on a number of common fraud types, including tech support scams and family and friend impersonation scams.
The Scams Against Older Adults deliverables are available to the public at ftc.gov/olderadults.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-10-18 17:13:28
