People of any age can become prey to scam artists, but those over 60 are more often targeted because they are more likely to have financial savings, good credit and less experience with technology.
In fact, people 80 and older are more likely than younger adults to lose money to scams, according to a Federal Trade Commission report released in October. The FBI’s Criminal Complaint Center received reports of $3.4 billion in elder fraud losses overall in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
Common schemes involve phony offers of tech support, bogus investment opportunities and scams involving prizes, sweepstakes and lottery winnings, authorities say. Scammers may impersonate family, friends or government agencies seeking money or personal information.
The explosion of artificial intelligence has fueled the work of scam artists, who use it to generate text, images and video and to clone voices, according to the FBI.
James Clinton, a community liaison for the office of Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, said retirees can sniff out whether a scammer is at work if they take heed of “the four P’s”: Scammers use pretense, present a problem or a prize, pressure victims to act quickly and demand payment.
“The biggest of the four P’s is pressure,” Clinton said. “If they get you on the phone, they’re really dependent on you to not hang up.”
Hanging up is often the best defense, with fraudsters increasingly relying on computer programs to make calls either claiming victims owe money, a financial account has been compromised or the IRS is after them, said Brendan Brosh, a spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“Whereas a single fraudster could make hundreds of those calls a day, we now have AI making thousands of those calls a day, casting a much wider net for potential victims,” he said.
In March 2024, the Queens district attorney’s office filed criminal charges against a 39-year-old Flushing man accused of scamming more than $600,000 from senior citizens around the country. He and co-conspirators claimed they were calling either from the Social Security Administration, a bank or a vendor to tell victims their accounts had been compromised, prosecutors said. They then advised the seniors to wire money for safekeeping, prosecutors charged.
It’s important for anyone who receives such a call or pitch to take the time to verify the information before sending money or providing personal information. “Never act immediately,” Brosh said.
Other common schemes call into play family emergencies, romance, extortion, investments and cryptocurrency, Clinton said. Victims receive calls from someone claiming an emergency, such as saying a grandchild has been arrested. With AI, criminals can clone voices from online content to make such stories more credible.
In romance scams, criminals cultivate a romantic relationship with a senior before asking for large sums of money. Fraudsters extorting money often claim to possess compromising photos that they will distribute unless the victim sends cryptocurrency such as bitcoin.
Not all elder fraud scams are high tech. Criminals have stolen millions of dollars in U.S. Treasury checks from mailboxes. These thefts can disproportionately hurt senior citizens because they are less likely to use direct deposit, Clinton said.
It’s important to report fraud to local law enforcement, he said. “Reporting these instances, even if the scammer isn’t successful, is still incredibly helpful.”