A report from the Federal Trade Commission shows a major increase in the amount of adults who have lost $10,000 or more to scammers over the past four years.
The FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight said there has been a nearly four-fold increase since 2020 in older adults who say they lost $10,000 or more to scammers who impersonate government agencies or businesses. Further, there has been an eight-fold increase since 2020 in adults who lost more than $100,000 as the combined losses jumped from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024.
The scammers usually contact consumers to alert them to a fake and urgent problem and then they try to persuade them to transfer their money to “keep it safe” or for some other false reason. In reality, the money is being sent to the scammers.
There are several types of scams that are most commonly deployed.
- The scammers claim to be from your bank or a well-known company like Amazon and are contacting you to flag suspicious activity on your account.
- Scammers claim to be a government officer warning that your Social Security number or some other information is being used to commit a crime such as drug smuggling or money laundering.
- They will also scam people by saying there is a security problem with their computer: These scams often start with a fake on-screen security alert that looks like it’s from Microsoft or Apple with a number to call. If you call, they say your online accounts have been hacked.
- Some scammers even pretend to be with the FTC and tell people to transfer money out of their accounts, deposit cash into Bitcoin ATMS, and even hand off stacks of cash or gold to couriers—actions the FTC would never ask people to do.
To avoid such scams, the FTC recommends the following actions.
- Don’t move money to “protect it.” Never transfer or send money to anyone, no matter who they say they are, in response to an unexpected call or message.
- Hang up and verify. If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from a government agency or business, contact the company or agency using a phone number or website you know is real. Don’t trust the phone number or name they provide.
- Block unwanted calls. Learn about call blocking options to stop many of these scammers before they reach you.
The agency points out that the FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.