FTC Report Finds Older Adults' Reported Fraud Losses Rose About Fivefold Since 2020

Fraud losses reported by adults ages 60 and over rose about fivefold from 2020 to 2025, from about $600 million to approximately $3 billion, according to the Federal Trade Commission's annual report to Congress on protecting older adults. The FTC said the increase was driven largely by growing reports of very large individual losses.

The report, Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026, draws on reports submitted to the agency's Consumer Sentinel Network. According to the FTC, older adults' reported losses to investment scams rose 42% in 2025 to over $1 billion, and consumers often reported that scammers reached them on social media. The agency estimated that the overall cost of fraud to older adults in 2025 could be as high as $119.5 billion.

The FTC said older adults reported losing money to fraud at lower rates than younger adults but reported much higher median losses. People 80 and over reported a median loss of $2,000. Older adults were also more likely to report losing money to tech support, prize and lottery, romance, government impersonation and family impersonation scams, the agency said.

The report also describes FTC enforcement actions, education efforts such as its Never Ever campaign, and referrals of older adults with significant losses to the Justice Department's National Elder Fraud Hotline. The Commission voted 2-0 to issue the report.

Source: Federal Trade Commission.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/272