Oregonians over 60 lost more than $44 million to internet scams in 2023
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon’s elderly population lost more than $44 million to internet scams last year, according to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI just released its 2023 Elder Fraud Report, which lists the fraud cases and financial losses that people over 60 reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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From 2022 to 2023, the number of reports rose by 14% to 101,068 nationwide. The total losses also grew by 11% to more than $3 billion.
Officials noted these figures don’t fully reflect the number of internet scams targeting older individuals, adding that only half of the internet crime complaints include information on age.
Still, federal data shows that people over 60 were the leading age group for fraud victims. The next-highest group is those between 30 and 39 years old, with 88,138 complaints submitted and more than $1 billion in projected losses for 2023.
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“Combatting the financial exploitation of those over 60 years of age continues to be a priority of the FBI,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Nordwall wrote. “Along with our partners, we continually work to aid victims and to identify and investigate the individuals and criminal organizations that perpetrate these schemes and target the elderly.”
Oregon ranked at No. 19 for complaints filed and No. 21 for dollars lost, with 1,606 reports and $44 million.
The numbers are more staggering in Washington, where elderly residents filed 2,873 internet crime complaints and lost nearly $89 million due to scams.
As three of the largest states by population, California, Florida and Texas led in both categories.
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Tech support cases, in which someone poses as a technical or customer service representative, were the most common scams nationwide.
These were followed by personal data hacks, and confidence and romance scams in which a victim sends money to someone who claims to be a relative, friend or romantic partner.
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