HOUSTON — If you're over 60 or know someone who is, the FBI has a warning they want you to hear: Fraud against older people is up significantly.
They want you to help watch out for yourself and your loved ones as scammers are getting more creative every day. Last year, they took $3 billion from older people, according to FBI data.
How are they doing it?
Victims over 60 lost more to the scams than all other age groups combined. Some were forced to remortgage their homes, and others emptied their retirement accounts and borrowed money from family and friends.
Sometimes, the scam starts with a simple text message.
"This starts as maybe a romance scam, or it starts as someone just gets a text message on their phone that says 'Hello, how are you?'" Heith Janke said.
Janke is the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the White Collar Criminal Branch at the FBI's Houston division. He said the scams can also start with an actual phone call telling people that they won a large prize. He said some of the scams are very elaborate.
"These criminal networks will take weeks and months grooming their victims," Janke said. "They're targeting those that are trusting. They're targeting those that may be more isolated."
What to look for
The scams can look like a number of things. Here are some examples the FBI said to be aware of:
- Government impersonation
- Lottery winners
- Investment schemes
- Romance scams
Sometimes, the scammers will even use fear.
The numbers
Last year, the FBI said people over 60 lost $3.1 billion to scams, which is an 84% increase over the year before. The average loss for each victim was about $35,000.
Avoiding becoming a victim
Since most of the criminal networks are based out of the country, the FBI said the best way to fight them is through prevention.
"Generally, we're seeing these criminal networks are overseas and these are international crimes that we are investigating," Janke said.
There are a couple of rules to follow to help avoid falling for a scam.
"One, if they are offering something that's too good to be true, it usually is. Second, if you've never actually met the person, you should never send any money," Janke said.