Personal data used by scammers to target American seniors

LOS ANGELES - May 17, 2024 - PRLog -- Incogni's research identified that 12 of the 30 crimes categorised by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a division of the FBI, are data facilitated by fraudsters gaining access to personal information online, such as that held by data brokers. This includes identity theft, phishing, or personal data breaches.

More than half (57.1%) of the crimes reported last year were facilitated or exacerbated by the availability of victims' personal data online. The losses from these crimes amounted to $2.99B, 87% of the total losses, with tech support scams being the most prevalent—17,700 such complaints were reported among the over 60s, who together lost $598.9m.

One of the reasons for the total increase in losses is the rise in investment-related scams, which have soared (+507%) among the over 60s since 2020. In 2023, victims lost $1.24bn to investment fraud, with an average loss of $193k per complainant. The rise of new cryptocurrencies has provided further opportunities for fraudsters to steal large sums of money from older Americans, with victims losing an average of $97,400 to these crimes.

The over 60s in the US are also being targeted with confidence and romance scams, in which fraudsters prey on feelings of loneliness and people's desire to find love. These types of scams led to losses of $356.9m last year.

The US average for over 60s was $33,900, which was down marginally (-3.1%) from the $35,100 figure for 2022. The highest average loss experienced per victim was in Hawaii ($61,734), followed by the District of Columbia ($57,544) and California ($55,346).

Darius Belejevas, Head of Incogni, comments: "Individuals can take back control of their own data by using a service like Incogni, which will systematically request that data brokers delete and do not sell on people's personal data."

More info: https://blog.incogni.com/elder-fraud-in-us-research/