FBI Report Highlights Rising Elder Fraud Trends

Posted on May 21st, 2024 at 11:00 AM
FBI Report Highlights Rising Elder Fraud Trends

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its 2023 Elder Fraud Report, revealing a concerning surge in elder fraud complaints and associated losses. According to FBI.gov, the report underscores the urgency of addressing this issue and preventing further exploitation of older Americans' finances.

According to the report, elder fraud complaints to the IC3 increased by 14 percent in 2023, with associated losses rising by approximately 11 percent. Despite those alarming figures, the true extent of elder fraud may be underestimated, as many cases likely go unreported.

Here are five key insights from the 2023 report:

  1. Costly Impact: Scams targeting individuals aged 60 and older resulted in over $3.4 billion in losses in 2023, with the average victim losing $33,915.
  1. Disproportionate Impact: Older Americans are disproportionately affected by scams and fraud, with over 101,000 victims aged 60 and over-reporting such crimes to IC3 in 2023.
  1. Common Scams: Tech support scams were the most reported type of elder fraud in 2023, followed by personal data breaches, confidence and romance scams, non-payment or non-delivery scams, and investment scams.
  1. Costliest Schemes: Investment scams emerged as the costliest type of elder fraud in 2023, causing victims over $1.2 billion in losses. Other significant losses were attributed to tech support scams, business email compromise scams, confidence and romance scams, government impersonation scams, and personal data breaches.
  1. Cryptocurrency Target: Scammers are increasingly targeting older individuals' cryptocurrency holdings, with more than 12,000 victims aged 60 and over-reporting cryptocurrency-related scams to IC3.

The report the need for increased public awareness and vigilance to prevent financial exploitation of older adults.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters. 

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