Elderly Americans who were victims of crypto fraud lost $4.8 billion despite representing a fraction (17%) of the population. According to the annual FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3) latest report, senior citizens, 60 and above, made 147,127 complaints about scams. Out of these, phishing and spoofing crimes recorded the highest, with 23,252 cases reported to the authorities.
Operations Director for Criminal and Cyber, B. Chad Yarbrough, stated, “Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion. Fraud represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023. As a group, those over the age of 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints.”
The FBI stated that the crypto-related frauds hit $9.3 billion in 2024, a 66% increase from the previous year’s $5.6 billion. Additionally, total losses made in 2024 were 16.6 billion, an increase of 33% from 2023.
Moreover, Yarbrough stated, “These rising losses are even more concerning because last year, the FBI took significant actions to make it harder, and more costly, for malicious actors to succeed. We dealt a serious blow to LockBit, one of the world’s most active ransomware groups. Since 2022, we have offered up thousands of decryption keys to victims of ransomware, avoiding over $800 million in payments.
Also in 2024, we worked proactively to prevent losses and minimize victim harm through private sector collaboration and initiatives like Operation Level Up. We disbanded fraud and laundering syndicates, shut down scam call centers, shuttered illicit marketplaces, dissolved nefarious “botnets,” and put hundreds of other actors behind bars. Our partnerships across the intelligence, law enforcement, and private sector communities have never been stronger.”
