GA One Of Top States In US For Elder Fraud: FBI Report

ATLANTA, GA — Georgia is among the top states in the nation for elder fraud, with residents aged 60 and over reporting losses of nearly $26 million to con artists last year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Only nine other states — California, Florida, Texas, New York, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona and Washington — reported higher financial losses through scams of the elderly, a new FBI report released Tuesday said.

The news comes on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and as the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said the number of complaints about scams rose 70 percent between 2019 and 2020. The top three scams nationwide, according to the agency, were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams and extortion.

"Notably, 2020 saw the emergence of scams exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic," IC3 said. "The increase in crimes reported in 2020 may have also been due in part to the pandemic driving more commerce and activities online. The latest numbers indicate 2021 may be another record year."

Last year, scams targeting the elderly bilked 105,301 victims out of about $1 billion in the U.S., according to the FBI. The average loss per victim was about $9,175, and nearly 2,000 of the victims in 2020 lost more than $100,000.

“The combination of online shopping and social media creates easy venues for scammers to post false advertisements,” the report said. “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.”

Georgia ranked No. 17 in the nation, with 2,145 victims.

Here's a breakdown of the top 10 crimes targeting elderly victims over 60 in the U.S.:

• Extortion — 23,100 victims
• Non-payment/non-delivery — 14,534 victims
• Tech Support — 9,429 victims
• Identity theft — 7,581 victims
• Phishing/Vishing/Smishing/Pharming — 7,353 victims
• Spoofing — 7,279 victims
• Confidence fraud/romance — 6,817 victims
• Personal data breach — 6,121 victims
• Misrepresentation — 4,735 victims
• Government impersonation — 4,159 victims

“As we observe World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, we are reminded how important it is to protect one of our most vulnerable populations,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds said in a news release Tuesday. “Every day, the GBI is committed to investigating not only physical abuse, but also financial abuse and exploitation of elderly and at-risk adults.”

The FBI 2020 Elder Fraud Report may be found here. Anyone who receives a scam call should report it to the FBI, Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3, www.ic3.gov.