The Federal Trade Commission building in Washington. Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Aug. 7 that scammers posing as government officials or business representatives stole a total of $445 million from Americans over the age of 60 in 2024—an eightfold increase from the $55 million lost in 2020.
Individually, older adults admitted to being swindled out of $10,000 or more, sometimes their entire life savings, by these scammers. Reports of this high-tech theft have quadrupled in the past four years.
