Fraud losses reported by older adults elevated fivefold between 2020 and 2025, leaping from $600 million to $3 billion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mentioned Monday (Oct. 19).
The FTC shared this information in a press release outlining findings from its report back to Congress, “Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026: A Report of the Federal Trade Commission.”
The development in fraud losses reported by adults 60 or older was pushed largely by a rising variety of incidents involving “extraordinarily large individual losses,” the discharge mentioned.
In its report back to Congress, the FTC mentioned: “This increase was largely driven by reports of losses over $100,000, often to investment scams, romance scams or impersonations.”
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While older adults report shedding cash to fraud at decrease charges than youthful adults, they’re extra more likely to report shedding cash on sure types of fraud. These embrace tech assist scams; prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams; romance scams; authorities impersonation scams; and scams impersonating pals or relations, per the discharge.
PYMNTS reported in June 2024 that as extra child boomers and seniors went on-line to get their banking accomplished, they grew to become targets of fraudsters.
The FTC’s report additionally outlines the fee’s efforts to guard older adults from fraud. These efforts embrace legislation enforcement, outreach and schooling, efforts to observe the marketplace for rising tendencies, and collaborations with stakeholders in private and non-private sectors.
“The FTC is committed to protecting older adults from scams, including by taking every action necessary to shut down fraud operations,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, mentioned in the discharge.
PYMNTS reported in September that the House accredited laws geared toward giving state and native legislation enforcement extra sources to research refined financial scams focusing on older shoppers.
The GUARD Act would develop the methods legislation enforcement companies can use present federal grant funding to research monetary fraud and would expressly authorize federal companies to assist these authorities deploy blockchain-tracing expertise.
U .S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who co-led the act, mentioned in a September press launch: “Every day, scammers are targeting our seniors, draining the hard-earned savings they spent a lifetime building, often with a single phone call or a fake investment scheme.”
