THE Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3 released a 2020 Elder Fraud Report that included statistics for Guam and the CNMI.
The FBI reported that in the CNMI, five individuals who were over 60 years old victims lost $66,000 to internet fraud. On Guam, there were 18 victims with total losses amounting to $55,428.
“Please keep in mind — the report is based solely on complaints made to IC3,” FBI spokeswoman Michele Ernst said.
She added that the numbers also only reflect online complaints made by victims who voluntarily provided an age range as “Over 60.”
The FBI did not provide specific details regarding the internet scam that victimized the senior citizens of the Marianas.
According to the report, in 2020, IC3 received a total of 791,790 complaints with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion.
“Based on the information provided in the complaints, approximately 28% of the total fraud losses were sustained by victims over the age of 60, resulting in approximately $1 billion in losses to seniors. This represents an increase of approximately $300 million in losses reported in 2020 versus what was reported by victims over 60 in 2019.”
To educate the public and provide as much information as possible on the types of frauds targeting seniors, the IC3 is offering its first publication of the 2020 IC3 Elder Fraud Annual Report. This report is a companion report to the 2020 IC3 Annual Report released in March 2021.
The report is available online: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2020_IC3ElderFraudReport.pdf
Common scams
According to the FBI, the most common scams against seniors include:
• Non-payment/non-delivery
• Fraudulent products
• Lottery/sweepstakes/inheritance
• Confidence fraud/romance scams
• Tech support fraud
• Extortion
• Government impersonation
• Investment
“The sudden need to shop online and the fear of Covid-19 made older Americans even more of a target for scammers and criminals than they had been in the past,” the FBI stated.
“For example, the pandemic required many older people to shop online for the first time, and non-delivery of goods was one of the common fraud schemes that older victims experienced.
“The combination of online shopping and social media creates easy venues for scammers to post false advertisements. Many victims report ordering items from links advertised on social media and either receiving nothing at all or receiving something completely unlike the advertised item.”
As a growing part of the U.S. population, older people are an attractive target for fraudsters and scammers, the FBI added.
“This demographic tends to have more financial stability, which makes them a target for criminals looking to make quick profit. Older Americans may be more easily intimidated or lonely, making it harder for them to get help.”
