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

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina is among the top states in the nation for elder fraud, with residents aged 60 and over reporting losses of nearly $28 million to con artists last year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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

The news comes 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.

North Carolina ranked No. 15 in the nation, with 2,472 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

"Scammers never stop; they work around the clock to cash in on the latest scheme hoping to steal your money or your identity," FBI's Charlotte field office said Monday. "You’ve heard many of their pitches: they pretend to be romantically interested in you, say they are a relative in trouble, or pretend to be collecting money for a charity after a natural disaster. Soon, the cycle of fraud begins. When a warning is issued about their scheme, they adapt and make enough changes to their pitch to convince the victims their claims are real."

In a new public awareness campaign, the FBI Charlotte office said the top 10 red flag fraud signs include:
1) Requests payment via gift cards, wire transfers, or virtual currency.
2) Creates a sense of urgency or deadline to pay quickly.
3) Demands secrecy from you.
4) Poor grammar or misspellings.
5) Payments offered in amounts higher than listed price.
6) Email addresses disguised to seem legitimate.
7) Unsolicited emails, texts, etc., requesting you confirm usernames and/or passwords.
8) Requests to move to a new platform to communicate.
9) Requests to access your personal bank account to pay you for a service.
10) Unsolicited emails with links or attachments.

"No matter what type of story someone is telling you, as always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," FBI Charlotte said.

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.