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Criminals are increasingly stealing retirements and other financial accounts for older Americans through so-called “fraud” scams, the Federal Trade Commission reported Thursday.
Scams tend to be the following: Scammers remind us of fake crisis and poss as trustworthy sources – perhaps representatives of workers from banks, businesses like Apple, Microsoft, or federal agencies like the Social Security Agency or FTC.
In the process, they will persuade unsuspecting victims and hand over the money to “keep it safe” or for another fake reason, the FTC said.
In 2024, the FTC received 8,269 reports from adults over the age of 60, claiming they lost at least $10,000 to fraud fraud. That figure is up 362% from 2020’s 1,790 reports, according to FTC data.
The total loss for older Americans reached $700 million in 2024. This is more than five times higher than $122 million in 2020.
Sometimes economic losses amount to saving lives for households.
“Some people over the age of 60 have even reported emptying their bank accounts and clearing up their 401K,” the FTC writes.
Losses over $100,000 inflate 700%
The losses for older people who lost at least $100,000 have surged from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024, according to the FTC.
The rise in fraud fraud tracks the overall increase in elder fraud reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Internet crime saw a loss from 147,127 consumer complaints in 2024 to $4.9 billion, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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“Reported losses are likely to be much higher because they are unlikely to report fraud because they don’t know how to report it, they are embarrassed, or because they don’t know that they’ve been fraudulent,” the FBI wrote in June.
According to 2024 data from the FTC, losses above $100,000 were triple likely to be reported by adults over the age of 60 compared to younger households.
How to avoid fraud fraud
Here are some ways FTCs can suggest to avoid falling into a victim of fraud:
Don’t move your money to “protect” it. Do not send money, cryptocurrency, or money to strangers or send cryptocurrency or gold in response to unexpected calls or messages. Don’t believe anyone who says FTCs move money to move and “protect” money right away. Anyone who calls it a scammer, the agency said. Even if the scam is launched online, they usually rely on the phone at some point in the process. Please contact the company or government agency in question using a phone number, website or email address you know. “Don’t trust what unexpected callers are saying, and don’t use your phone number in computer security pop-ups or unexpected text or email,” according to FTC.Block’s unnecessary calls. Learn about call blocking options that scammers can stop before they reach you.
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