EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The FBI El Paso is bringing awareness to elder abuse with the growing number of elder fraud cases.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day lands on Saturday, June 15 and FBI El Paso wants to educate the community about the signs of elder abuse.
According to data collected by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), older Americans have reported over $1.6 billion in losses to financial fraud from January to May of 2024. In 2023, the total losses was $3.4 billion. In Texas, the total losses was $278.3 million.
Elder abuse cases has seen a double digit increase in financial fraud, the FBI said.
“Empowering our seniors and their friends and family with education surrounding elder fraud schemes is critical to protecting them and their hard-earned money. Unfortunately, elder fraud remains one of the most devasting violations we work in the FBI. The effects of these elaborate schemes go far beyond just financial losses. It robs an already vulnerable population of their sense of security. We all need to work together to make sure our seniors, their caregivers, families and friends know the signs to look for that a criminal is after your money,” said Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division Michael Nordwall.
The most common elder fraud schemes were tech support scams, confidence and romantic scams, investment scams and government impersonation scams, said the FBI.
“Elder fraud is labeled as the crime of the 21st century because we are seeing elderly individuals
retiring with significant assets, making them the most attractive target for criminal elements seeking to steal money from trusting individuals. It is our mission to prevent our elderly citizens from becoming victims and becoming deprived of vital financial resources needed to cover basic living expenses,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI El Paso Field Office John Morales.
These small steps can be used to protect yourself and your information from fraud:
Search online for the contact information of any unknown source, such as name, phone number, email and addresses. Verify the legitimacy of the business on websites such as Better Business Bureau. Other individuals have likely posted information online about businesses and people attempting to run scams.
Resist the pressure to act quickly. Scammers create a sense of urgency to lure victims into immediate action by instilling trust and inducing empathy/fear or the promise of monetary gain, companionship or employment opportunities.
Be cautious of unsolicited phone calls, mailings and door-to-door service offers.
Never give or send to unverified businesses/people any personally identifiable information, money, checks, gift cards or wire information.
Take precautionary measures to protect your identity should a criminal gain access to your account or device. Immediately contact your financial institutions to place protections on your accounts and monitor for suspicious activity.
The Elder Justice Initiative coordinates with the Department of Justice’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud. For more information, visit the initiative’s website here.
If you believe you or someone you know may have been a victim of elder fraud, contact the FBI El Paso at (915) 832-5000 or submit a complaint on IC3.gov. You should document the name of the scammer/company with methods of contact, dates of contact, method of payment, where the money may have been sent and a thorough description of the interactions.
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