Fraud losses reported by way of older adults greater fivefold between 2020 and 2025, jumping from $600 million to $3 billion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mentioned Monday (Oct. 19).
The FTC shared this knowledge 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 expansion in fraud losses reported by way of adults 60 or older used to be pushed in large part by way of a rising collection of incidents involving “extremely huge particular person losses,” the discharge mentioned.
In its report back to Congress, the FTC mentioned: “This build up used to be in large part pushed by way of experiences of losses over $100,000, steadily to funding scams, romance scams or impersonations.”
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Whilst older adults document dropping cash to fraud at decrease charges than more youthful adults, they’re much more likely to document dropping cash on positive types of fraud. Those come with tech give a boost to scams; prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams; romance scams; govt impersonation scams; and scams impersonating buddies or members of the family, in line with the discharge.
PYMNTS reported in June 2024 that as extra child boomers and seniors went on-line to get their banking carried out, they turned into objectives of fraudsters.
The FTC’s document additionally outlines the fee’s efforts to offer protection to older adults from fraud. Those efforts come with regulation enforcement, outreach and training, efforts to watch the marketplace for rising traits, and collaborations with stakeholders in private and non-private sectors.
“The FTC is dedicated to protective older adults from scams, together with by way of taking each motion vital to close down fraud operations,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Client Coverage, mentioned within the free up.
PYMNTS reported in September that the Area authorized regulation aimed toward giving state and native regulation enforcement extra assets to research refined financial scams focused on older shoppers.
The GUARD Act would enlarge the tactics regulation enforcement businesses can use present federal grant investment to research monetary fraud and would expressly authorize federal businesses to assist the ones government deploy blockchain-tracing generation.
U .S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who co-led the act, mentioned in a September press free up: “Each day, scammers are focused on our seniors, draining the hard earned financial savings they spent a life-time development, steadily with a unmarried telephone name or a pretend funding scheme.”