Elder fraud on the rise, FBI warns community to watch out and report

The FBI is keeping an eye on a rise in financial crimes targeting senior citizens.  They’re warning the community to watch out for elder fraud and to make a report immediately and persistently.

A recent FBI fraud report indicating a 14% increase in elder fraud complaints and an 11% increase in total losses.  "Our information shows that these reports have discovered over $3 billion in losses," explained FBI Special Agent In Charge Steven Merrill. 

An alarming 40% of fraud victims are those 60 years and older, according to the feds.  "The criminals target the elderly because one, they tend to be more trusting and two, they tend to have more money," Merrill said.

Last year, 15 people reported elder fraud to the FBI locally, scammed out of nearly $600,000 in total.  But he says there’s likely a much higher count as these types of cases go largely unreported, especially on Guam. 

"Those that are 60 and over are unfortunately being victimized to a bigger extent," he said.

It’s why the FBI is warning the community to keep their eyes peeled and watch out for any suspicious activity targetting our most vulnerable, especially for the most costly scheme on the rise: cryptocurrency investment.  

Merrill stated, "So if someone is coming to you and they either email you or social media contact you out of the blue and they offer you an investment return to buy cryptocurrency and it will give you an incredible investment…If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

But if they do fall victim, he says to report it immediately to the bank and authorities, and do so persistently.

"If I was advising my own family members, make as many complaints as they can, meaning call the FBI, call your local police, register it on the FBI’s system - ic3.gov," he said.