Fraud Losses Against Older Americans Have Roughly Quadrupled Since 2020, the FTC Says

Older Americans are not just losing more scams. They are losing bigger ones, and the Federal Trade Commission’s own numbers show the damage compounding year over year.

What You Should Know

Reported fraud losses among adults 60 and older reached about $2.4 billion in 2024, up from roughly $600 million in 2020, according to the FTC’s Protecting Older Consumers report to Congress. That is close to a fourfold increase, or roughly 300 percent, in four years, the FTC said in a December 1, 2025 press release.

The agency cautions that reported figures understate the real toll. Because fraud is widely underreported, the FTC estimates the true cost to older adults in 2024 fell between $10.1 billion and $81.5 billion, depending on methodology, Fox Business reported.

The Money Trail

The surge is driven largely by catastrophic individual losses. Combined losses reported by older adults who lost more than $100,000 rose more than fivefold between 2020 and 2024, and those large-loss cases now account for about 68 percent of all dollars lost by older Americans, according to the FTC.

Investment schemes were the single most damaging category, with about $744 million in reported losses among adults 60 and older in 2024, the FTC said. Phone-initiated scams produced the highest median individual loss, at $2,210, compared with $650 for scams that began on social media, according to Fox Business.

The Receipts

Older adults reported far higher median losses than younger adults, and the gap widens with age: for adults 80 and older, the median reported loss exceeded $1,600, the FTC said. Tech support scams alone cost older consumers $159 million in 2024. FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige said the agency “is doing everything possible to protect older adults and shut down illegal scams.”

What Happens Next

The FTC says impersonation scammers increasingly pose as government officials, banks, or law enforcement to pressure quick transfers. The agency distributed nearly 1.7 million “Pass It On” educational materials in fiscal 2025 to help older adults warn their communities. With large-loss cases still climbing, the open question is whether enforcement can keep pace before the next annual tally is due to Congress.

References: Fox Business | FTC