Older adults reported losing more than $1.6 billion to fraud in 2022, with the actual figure possibly as high as $48 billion given most fraud is not reported, the Federal Trade Commission said today in an annual report to Congress. The FTC analysis found that individuals age 60 or older were less likely to report fraud than younger people but reported losing substantially more money. Consumers age 80 and older reported losing a median of $1,750 to fraud, while those in their seventies reported a median loss of $1,000, with both numbers increasing since 2021.
Older adults reported losing $404 million in investment scams, up 175% from 2021. They also reported losing $271 million to business impersonation scams, up 78%, and $159 million to tech support scams, up 117%. Older adults filed the largest number of reports about online frauds, although the largest median losses started through phone calls.
