Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, an FBI report says
Time:2024-05-21 21:18:53 Source:entertainmentViews(143)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report released Tuesday that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.
Losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 last year were up 11% over the year before, according to the FBI’s report. Investigators are warning of a rise in brazen schemes to drain bank accounts that involve sending couriers in person to collect cash or gold from victims.
“It can be a devastating impact to older Americans who lack the ability to go out and make money,” said Deputy Assistant Director James Barnacle of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “People lose all their money. Some people become destitute.”
The FBI received more than 100,000 complaints by victims of scams over the age of 60 last year, with nearly 6,000 people losing more than $100,000. It follows a sharp rise in reported losses by older Americans in the two years after the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when people were stuck at home and easier for scammers to reach over the phone.
You may also like
- Nuggets blow 20
- Phillies' Turnbull loses no
- Tori Spelling admits she once put on her son's diaper and PEED in it while stuck in traffic
- House on the brink of approving Ukraine and Israel aid after long struggle
- Rays opening day starter Zach Eflin placed on 15
- Report: Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at Tokyo Olympics despite positive doping tests
- Dick Van Dyke earns historic Daytime Emmy nomination at...
- Chinese publisher unveils new Harry Potter tie
- ‘The Blue Angels,’ filmed for IMAX, puts viewers in the ‘box’ with the elite flying squad