Imposter scams cost older adults $700 million in 2024, FTC finds: Some victims are ‘clearing out' their 401(k)s

Criminals are increasingly pilfering the status and different fiscal accounts of older Americans via alleged "imposter" scams, the Federal Trade Commission reported Thursday.

The frauds thin to spell similar this: Scammers conjure a fake situation and airs arsenic trustworthy sources — possibly a typical for a slope oregon companies similar Amazon, Apple oregon Microsoft, oregon workers astatine a national bureau similar the Social Security Administration oregon FTC — who tin supposedly assistance them hole it.

In the process, they persuade unsuspecting victims to transportation their wealth to "keep it safe" oregon for different bogus reason, the FTC said.

In 2024, the FTC received 8,269 reports from adults property 60 and older, claiming to person mislaid astatine slightest $10,000 to an imposter scam. That fig is up 362% from 1,790 reports successful 2020, according to FTC data.

Total losses among older Americans amounted to $700 million successful 2024 — a much than fivefold summation from $122 cardinal successful 2020, the FTC said.

Sometimes, fiscal nonaccomplishment amounts to households' full beingness savings.

"Some radical 60+ person reported emptying their slope accounts and adjacent clearing retired their 401ks," the FTC wrote.

Losses among those older adults who mislaid astatine slightest $100,000 person swelled to $445 cardinal successful 2024 from $55 cardinal successful 2020, according to the FTC.

The summation successful imposter scams tracks an summation successful wide elder fraud reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Internet transgression led to $4.9 cardinal successful losses from 147,127 user complaints successful 2024. Those figures correspond a 43% summation successful losses, and a 46% leap successful complaints from 2023, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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"The reported losses are astir apt overmuch higher due to the fact that older Americans are little apt to study fraud due to the fact that they either don't cognize however to study it, are embarrassed, oregon don't cognize they person been scammed," the FBI wrote successful June.

Losses implicit $100,000 were 3 times arsenic apt to beryllium reported by adults 60 years and older compared with younger households, according to the FTC's 2024 data.

Here are a fewer ways the FTC suggests to debar falling unfortunate to imposter scams:

• Don't determination wealth to "protect" it. Never transportation oregon nonstop money, cryptocurrency oregon golden to anyone you don't cognize — nary substance who they accidental they are — successful effect to an unexpected telephone oregon message, the FTC said.

• Don't judge radical who accidental to rapidly determination your wealth to "protect" it. Anyone who tells you that is simply a scammer, the bureau said.

• Hang up and verify. Even if the scams commencement online, they mostly inactive trust connected telephone calls astatine immoderate constituent successful the process. Contact the institution oregon authorities bureau successful question utilizing a telephone number, website oregon email code you cognize is real. "Don't spot what an unexpected caller says, and ne'er usage the telephone fig successful a machine information pop-up oregon an unexpected substance oregon email," according to the FTC.

• Block unwanted calls. Learn astir telephone blocking options done your bearer that tin halt scammers earlier they scope you.