Cyber Fraud Targeting Older Americans Rises By 11%

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(NewsWorthy.news) – Last year, the number of complaints from elderly Americans who were victims of cyber fraud rose by 11%, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A new report from the federal agency revealed that more than 100,000 American citizens at and above 60 years old fell prey to digital fraud schemes in 2023. On average, each citizen who was victimized in this way lost $33,915.

Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, were the largest monetary losses in the schemes. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has been publishing its data on digital fraud scams, specifically targeting older citizens, for at least the past six years. This department received 101,068 complaints from Americans 60 and older last year alone, which was an 11% increase from 2022 and about the same number of complaints received in 2020.

The number of complaints filed by elderly Americans in 2023 rose by 14%.

In total, roughly $3.4 billion were lost in digital scams among this population, according to IC3. Almost 40% of that total came from cases that were solely from cryptocurrency schemes, amounting to $1.33 billion. The recent report explained that over 12,000 of the elderly victims said that cryptocurrency was “used to facilitate” the scams in which they were victimized.

The FBI released an additional, separate report in March that outlined a rise in cryptocurrency scams. According to the agency, such schemes typically start as a play on romance or confidence and turn into investment fraud with cryptocurrency.

The agency’s report further explained that digital criminals frequently use “fictitious identities” in order to build connections “with victims.” Dating, social media, and professional networking sites are commonly used platforms for these schemes.

Michael Nordwall, FBI assistant director and head of the agency’s Criminal Investigative Division, said that the issue of elderly Americans’ “financial exploitation” is a “priority of the FBI.” He stated that the agency is determined to “continually work” to assist victims and take down perpetrators—both individuals and “criminal organizations”—that target elderly Americans.