Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Scams aiming to trick older Americans into giving money to strangers impersonating companies, government agencies and other entities have increased significantly since 2020, the Federal Trade Commission reported.
An FTC Consumer Protection Data Spotlight released Thursday said that total financial losses reported by people ages 60 and older who were ripped off for $100,000 or more via business and government impersonation scams went from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024.
Over the same time period, victims in the same age range who were scammed out of between $10,000 and $100,000 went from a total loss of $48 million to $214 million, while the total dollars lost by those robbed of $10,000 or less went from $19 million to $41 million.
The total number of business and government imposter reports filed by older adults who lost $10,000 or more soared from 1,790 in 2020 to 8,269 in 2024.
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