Senior Scams on the Rise in the U.S.
Recent data from federal investigators in Washington revealed a troubling trend - reports of criminal schemes targeting seniors in the U.S. have surged by 14% between 2022 and 2022. The most alarming finding was that investment scams proved to be the most costly to the elderly population.
According to the report, over 101,000 complaints of fraud were reported to federal law enforcement last year, all of which were perpetrated against individuals over the age of 60. This marked the highest number of fraud complaints compared to any other age group in the country.
A majority of elder fraud scams go unreported to law enforcement by the victims, which officials said makes it difficult to quantify the total impact of the crimes nationwide. AARP estimated in a 2023 study that $28.3 billion is lost to elder fraud scams each year, 72% of which is taken by individuals who are known to the victims.
On Friday, a California man was arrested after investigators said he was allegedly trying to pick up $35,000 from two seniors who had previously fallen victim to his elder-fraud scheme, which involved phishing attacks and two individuals who pretended to be federal agents.
Investigators said Tai Su was just one component of a large criminal enterprise that disguised itself as a Microsoft support system and a financial institution. The hackers would first gain access to the victims' computers through phishing scams and then would convince the seniors to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from their bank accounts.
Su now faces federal charges and made an initial appearance in court on Monday..
