Guide for families
Understanding the Risk of Financial Scams
Understanding the Risk of Financial Scams Financial scams targeting older adults are increasing rapidly and becoming more sophisticated each year.
In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) recorded $4.885 billion in losses from 147,127 financial scams targeting seniors. Data from the Federal Trade Commission shows a sharp increase in financial losses for seniors over the five years from 2020 to 2024. Reports of older adults losing $10,000 or more to impersonation scams increased more than fourfold over that time period, while reports involving losses of over $100,000 increased nearly sevenfold, with the total reported losses rising even faster. In 2024, older adults were more than twice as likely as younger consumers to report losses of $10,000 or more, and three times as likely to report losses of $100,000 or more.
