New research has revealed that California has lost over $624 million to elderly fraud.
Cybersecurity experts at VPNPro looked at data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Trade Commission to see how many victims of fraud were over the age of 60 in 2022. The data was analyzed based on the number of victims aged 60 or over as a proportion of each state’s elderly population.
California has had a total of 11,517 elderly fraud victims, averaging 136.2 victims per 100,000 elderly residents. The state reported a loss of $624,509,520 for this age group, the equivalent of $54,225 lost per victim.
On a national level, Investment scams were found to have cost elderly victims the most money in 2022, at a total loss of $404 million, with business imposters ($271 million) and romance scams ($240 million) being the second and third most lucrative scams.
Regarding contact methods, those aged 60 and over are more likely to lose money online than any other contact method. Elderly fraud victims have lost a total of $564 million to online fraud (including social media), compared to $90 million to text scams.
The most popular payment method for elderly victims is bank payment or transfer, producing a total loss of $570 million in 2022. Surprisingly, cryptocurrency is the second most popular method, with a loss of $288 million.
| Fraud type | The likelihood of victims aged 60 and over falling victim, compared to base group (2022) |
| Online shopping | – 39% |
| Business imposters | + 16% |
| Tech support scam | + 517% |
| Government imposters | + 27% |
| Investment scams | – 70% |
| Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries | + 167% |
| Romance scams | – 11% |
| Family and friendly imposters | + 73% |
| Fake check scams | – 42% |
| Vacation and travel | – 7% |
Source:
Additional Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Trade Commission, US Census
