At a glance
- Investment scams were the costliest category at $1.06 billion, up 42%.
- Losses above $100,000 were 6% of older adults' loss reports in 2025 but 70% of the dollars lost, the FTC said.
- For firms serving older clients, that skew suggests most dollar exposure sits in a small number of large transfers rather than frequent small ones.
Fraud losses reported to the Federal Trade Commission by Americans 60 and older reached about $3 billion in 2025, up from about $2.4 billion in 2024, InvestmentNews reported, citing the agency's ninth annual Protecting Older Consumers report. Investment scams were the costliest category at $1.06 billion, up 42%. Victims often said a social media approach steered them to fake cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Losses above $100,000 were 6% of older adults' loss reports in 2025 but 70% of the dollars lost, the FTC said. Such reports rose to 6,769 from 1,136 in 2020. The median loss for those 60 and older held at about $900, while for those 80 and older it was $2,000, up 21% from 2024.
For firms serving older clients, that skew suggests most dollar exposure sits in a small number of large transfers rather than frequent small ones. The FTC also estimates real losses could be as high as $119.5 billion, because most victims never file a complaint. As Private Wealth Daily previously reported, the agency has also flagged fake Evite invitations as a route into client email accounts.
Reported by the RIA desk from InvestmentNews. Published . Corrections