Reader, can you guess the segment of the U.S. population that is particularly vulnerable to scams?
If you guessed, "the 60+ year old community," then you nailed it. And complaints are even on the rise!
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The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported an 11% increase in elder fraud complaints last year compared to the year before.
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It’s now a nearly $3.5 billion criminal scheme to defraud this at-risk group — and it’s only getting worse.
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Elder Fraud by The Numbers
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The 2023 IC3 Elder Fraud Report takes a deep dive into the problem at hand including the statistics behind fraud victim complaints to the agency.
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Some of the leading complaint categories include tech support, confidence/romance, and investment.
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Cryptocurrency fraud also played a significant part with financial losses, including crypto investment scams.
- Age 60+ Complainants: 101,068
- Average Dollar Loss: $33,915
- Lost More Than $100,000: 5,920
- Total Losses: $3,427,717,654
- Total Increase Over Previous Year: 11%
- Cryptocurrency Investment Scam Loss: Over $1.1 billion, 15,000 complaints
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Why 60+ = Target
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Seniors are tempting to target because many have a financial nest egg that scammers love to crack, with some victims losing their entire savings to scams.
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Also, seniors tend to be trusting.
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Remember, it’s a generation that didn’t grow up with technology and that could help explain why tech support and cryptocurrency scams are so successful.
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The IC3 finds there were 17,696 tech scams and 12,284 crypto scams reported.