The elderly lost $ 4.8 billion in 2024 due to scammers, according to an FBI report.
In total, the citizens of the United States lost $ 16.6 billion in 2024, which represents a 33% increase in losses between 2023 and 2024.
“Each figure of this report represents a real person, a victim whose confidence was betrayed, whose financial security was compromised and whose voice deserves to be heard,” said Christopher Delzotto, head of the section of the FBI criminal investigation division, to the press during a telephone conference, according to ABC news.
Investment scams occur when someone is deceived to invest in shares, bonds, real estate or other assets with almost too good profitability to be real.
The losses of the public due to the scammers have increased in the last five years, according to the statistics published in the report, with total losses of $ 50.5 billion during that period.
The FBI receives an average of 836,000 complaints of cyber fraud per year, according to the report. On average, people lost at least $ 20,000. The FBI received 47,919 complaints of investment fraud and people lost almost $ 6 billion in 2024.
Scammed people lost $ 2 billion in committed business email scams, which occur when the scammers pass through a supervisor or co -worker and ask for money or gift cards.
Technical support scams, which occur when someone pretends to have a problem with a computer or other technological device, also generated more than $ 1 billion.
Telephone call scams, in which people receive a text message informing that they have a pending call bill, generated more than 59,000 complaints and people lost almost $ 130,000 in these scams. Emergency scams, which occur when someone calls a grandfather and pretends to be in trouble, resulted in losses of $ 2.7 million.
People aged 50 to 59 suffered the second largest losses, after the elderly, with 2.5 billion dollars. California, Texas and Florida were the states with the most losses, according to the report.
FBI officials indicated in the call that the figure could be underestimated, since some people are ashamed to admit that they have been victims of scams.
The Anadolu agency website contains only part of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Dissemination System (HAS), and summarized.
