How many seniors are scammed every year?

Anyone can fall victim to a scam, regardless of their age or economic background. However, seniors are often targeted by most scams like investment and romance scams, which can have a devastating financial and emotional impact. Seniors are estimated to lose up to $3 billion annually to financial fraud.

The FBI estimates that at least 101,000 seniors aged 60 and over fell victim to various forms of scams in 2023, with the average victim of elder fraud losing $33,915. The most common forms of elder fraud include personal data breaches, romance scams, non-delivery or non-payment delivery scams, and investment scams.

What is a senior scam?

There are various forms of fraudulent schemes that target older people, aiming to steal their personal information, retirement savings, and other valuables. These scams take advantage of the vulnerabilities that some seniors may have like cognitive decline, social isolation, and unfamiliarity with modern technology.

Senior scams may take various forms, including telemarketing scams, lottery scams, investment scams, etc. For telemarketing scams, scammers call seniors pretending to be from reputable organizations to gain their trust. They persuade them to make purchases or donate to fake charities.

Lottery scams require seniors to pay upfront fees to claim prizes from a lottery they did not even enter. For investment scams, scammers present seniors with fraudulent investment opportunities that promise high returns with little risk. Investment scams often target seniors with significant retirement savings.

Senior Scam Statistics 

According to an FBI report released in April 2024, seniors aged 60 and over lost more than $3.4 billion in scams, representing an 11% increase from the year before. From the reported fraud of more than 100,000 victims, the average amount lost was $33,915, while about 6,000 elderly victims lost more than $100,000 each.

A 2022 Internet Crime Report by FBI’s IC3 shows that there were a total of 800,944 reported cases of fraud with losses exceeding $10.3 billion. Phishing schemes were the highest reported crime with 300,497 complaints, while investment schemes had the highest financial loss to victims.

The FTC reports that fraud and identity theft are the most common types of scams. These scams increased by 47% from 2019 to 2020. Among the reported cases of identity theft, government document or benefit fraud takes the lead.

Top financial scams targeting older adults

Scammers often target seniors because they believe this group has plenty of money in the bank. However, older adults with low income may also be a target of these scams.

Here are some of the financial scams targeting older adults:

Government impersonations

Scammers may call unsuspecting seniors and pretend to be some government agency like the IRS, Social Security, or Medicare. They may require immediate payment of a specific amount of money or threaten arrest or deportation if they don't make the required payments. Scammers may also threaten to withhold or cut off the person from receiving Social Security or Medicare benefits if they don't provide their personal information.

However, government agencies would not call seniors to demand immediate payments; they communicate via mail if there is a problem, or require seniors to visit their nearest local office for assistance. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) estimated that people aged 60 and older lost more than $724 million through government impersonation scams in 2022.

Romance scams

Romance scams often target seniors looking for love on online dating sites. Con artists seize the opportunity due to older adults’ desperation for love with the aim of exploiting their loneliness for money.

Scammers create fake profiles on dating sites and pretend to love them with deceitful words to lure them to steal their money. They may pretend to be overseas, and request money to pay for visas, airfare to the US, or even medical emergencies. Since these scams may drag on for a long time, seniors desperate for love can lose a substantial amount of money to con artists.

Tech support scams

Scammers may impersonate representatives of top technology companies to steal personal information from seniors. Usually, tech support scammers take advantage of older adult’s lack of knowledge about computers to prey on them.

A pop-up message may appear on the computer screen, telling the senior that their device is faulty and must be repaired. The scammers may request remote access to the senior's computer or ask them to pay a fee to have the computer repaired. However, tech support reps from legitimate companies are unlikely to proactively seek payments from customers or request remote access to their personal computers.

Investment scams

Investment scams involve the sale of financial products like crypto-currencies with guaranteed returns and low risk. These scams aim to convince seniors to invest in fraudulent schemes to earn high returns. Usually, these scams may use fraudulent websites to lure unsuspecting seniors by using false testimonials from fake customers.

Grandparent scam

Grandparents are known to treasure their grandchildren, and scammers can prey on this vulnerability to secure their trust. Usually, a scammer may call an elderly person pretending to be a grandchild to secure their trust. The fake grandchild then asks for money to solve a financial emergency like car repairs, medical bills, or a police bond. Sometimes, the scammers may pose as mechanics, doctors, or police officers trying to help the grandchild to get the grandparent to send money immediately.

How can the elderly avoid being scammed?

Scams are designed to catch people off guard, but there are certain measures seniors can take to avoid being scammed. Here are some tips to help:

Be aware of common red flags

Seniors must be aware of common scams and red flags to watch out for to avoid falling prey to fraudsters. Ask your senior to watch out for unsolicited calls or emails requesting personal information or deliveries of products that they never ordered. Regularly remind seniors to be aware of any interactions with strangers.

Verify the identity of your callers

Ask your senior to verify the identity of their callers before they can disclose any personal information. For example, if you receive calls from people claiming to be from popular companies and are seeking your personal information or payments, you can verify their identity by contacting the organization directly through a trusted phone number or email. You should also verify what information they need and how it will be used.  

Protect personal information

Scammers often exploit the vulnerabilities of seniors to obtain their personal information, including their full name, Social Security Number, bank account, date of birth, driving license, etc. If a caller claims to be from your bank, Social Security, or Medicare, don't provide any personal information over the phone. Instead, ask them to provide a number that you can call back.

Usually, financial institutions and government agencies like Social Security already know your personal information and have no reason to ask for the same information over the phone or via email.

Report suspected scams to relevant authorities

If you notice unusual withdrawals or withdrawals to your account details that you have not authorized, you should report them to the respective financial institution. Also, reporting the suspected scam to the local police, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and other relevant authorities can help prevent others from falling victim.