WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is sounding the alarm over a sharp rise in high-dollar losses among older Americans to sophisticated impersonation scams, with reported losses more than quadrupling since 2020.
According to the FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight, reports from consumers aged 60 and over who lost $10,000 or more have surged dramatically. Losses exceeding $100,000 skyrocketed from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024—an eightfold increase. While people of all ages have been targeted, older adults are disproportionately represented in the most severe cases, with some victims losing their entire life savings.
The scams follow a familiar pattern: criminals pose as trusted entities—such as government agencies, banks, or major companies—to fabricate an urgent crisis. Victims are told to transfer funds to “protect” their accounts, but the transfers ultimately go straight to the scammers.
The FTC notes three common deception tactics:
- Claiming suspicious account activity: Scammers impersonate a bank or a company like Amazon to report fraudulent charges.
- Falsely alleging criminal misuse of personal information: Fraudsters pose as law enforcement or government officials, claiming a Social Security number or other personal details are tied to crimes like drug smuggling or money laundering.
- Inventing computer security breaches: Fake pop-up alerts, often branded with Microsoft or Apple logos, prompt victims to call a support line, where scammers allege hacking and pressure them to act quickly.
In some cases, scammers have even posed as FTC officials, urging victims to deposit money into Bitcoin ATMs or hand over cash or gold to couriers—actions the agency emphasizes it would never request.
To protect against these schemes, the FTC advises consumers never to move money at someone else’s direction, hang up and independently verify the source of suspicious calls, and use call-blocking tools to stop fraudulent outreach before it reaches them.
The agency’s warning underscores a troubling reality: as scammers refine their methods, the financial and emotional stakes for older adults continue to escalate.
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