Elder Fraud Statistics: What FBI IC3 and FTC Numbers Really Show

Elder Fraud Statistics: Reading the FBI and FTC Numbers Without Panic

Key takeaways

• FBI IC3 (2025): People age 60+ filed 201,266 complaints with $7.748 billion in reported losses—37% more complaints and 59% more losses than 2024. Average loss among those who reported a dollar figure in the elder highlights: about $38,500. 12,444 complainants lost more than $100,000.[1]
• Highest IC3 loss types for 60+: Investment ($3.52 billion), tech/customer support ($1.04 billion), romance/confidence ($584 million), business email compromise ($568 million), government impersonation (~$413 million).[1]
• FTC Consumer Sentinel (2025): Among fraud reports that included age, about 469,597 came from people 60+; about 123,000 of those showed a money loss; reported losses totaled over $3 billion (up from about $2.4 billion in 2024). Median loss for 60+ held near $900; for 80+ the median was $2,000.[2]
• IC3 and FTC are different databases. Do not add the dollar totals together.[1][2]
• Both agencies stress massive underreporting. FTC estimates the true 2025 cost to older adults between $13.3 billion and $119.5 billion under different assumptions—wide on purpose.[2]
• For how scams work and what to do, see elder fraud and the grandparent scam. This page focuses on reading the data.

Two official pictures (do not mix them)

Sentinel excludes IC3 data from most of its older-adult tables because age ranges are collected differently.[2] Treat each number as “what people reported to that system,” not a complete national census.

IC3 2025: complaints vs losses

How to read “average loss”: It is pulled up by huge investment and crypto cases. It is not what a “typical” household lost. FTC’s median (~$900 for 60+) is closer to a middle experience among people who reported a loss to Sentinel—and still is not “what everyone loses.”[1][2]

Top IC3 crime types by loss (60+, 2025)

From IC3 2025 Annual Report elder section.[1]

Top IC3 crime types by complaint count (60+, 2025)

Volume and dollars diverge: phishing/spoofing led counts (48,064) but ranked far lower by loss (~$77 million). Tech/customer support (21,333) and investment (16,926) sat near the top of both lists in different ways.[1]

Descriptors IC3 flags for 60+

Descriptors can overlap crime types; they are tags, not a separate exclusive bucket.[1]

IC3’s elder brochure summarizes the same year in round numbers: over 201,000 victims 60+, more than $7.7 billion lost, average loss over $38,000, more than 12,000 people over $100,000.[3] Prefer the annual report’s precise $7.748B / 37% / 59% split when you cite percentages.[1]

FTC Sentinel 2025: medians and underreporting

Key findings from the FTC’s Protecting Older Consumers report (Sentinel calendar year 2025):[2]

• Aggregate reported fraud losses by adults 60+ rose about fivefold from 2020 ($600 million) to 2025 ($3 billion), driven largely by very large individual losses.
• Older adults report higher median losses than younger adults when money is lost; ages 80+ median $2,000.
• Older adults are less likely than younger adults to report that money was lost on a given fraud report, and more likely to file no-loss reports.
• Relative to younger adults, older adults more often report losses on tech support, prize/sweepstakes/lottery, romance, government impersonation, and friend/family impersonation.
• By aggregate dollars, top types for older adults: investment, government impersonation, business impersonation. Investment losses jumped 42% in 2025; many victims describe fake crypto platforms reached via social media.
• Social media produced the highest aggregate losses and loss-report counts for older adults; phone contact still had a much higher median ($3,000 vs $599 for social media in the report’s comparison).[2]
• Payment methods with the highest aggregate losses: bank transfers / payments, then cryptocurrency; credit cards were the most frequently reported method.[2]

FTC estimate of true 2025 cost to older adults: $13.3B–$119.5B, depending on underreporting assumptions—the wide band is itself the message.[2]

What the numbers mean for families (original teaching aid)

Use this data checklist when you talk with parents or adult children:

1. Big totals ≠ everyone is about to lose thousands. Most people are not IC3 complainants. Focus on high-loss scam types: investment/crypto, tech support, romance, government/bank impersonation.[1][2]
2. Ask about contact channel. Social media and phone both matter; phone often means higher median loss.[2]
3. Never judge reporting rates. Shame and confusion suppress reports; official totals are floors, not ceilings.[1][2]
4. Practice before a crisis. Run the Is this a scam? checklist. Paste suspicious texts into

. 5. Know the first-hour path. How to report a scam — ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. 6. Tactics and AI voice clones: Elder fraud and the grandparent scam. 7. Deeper practice when ready:

FAQ

Why don’t IC3 and FTC totals match?
Different systems, different reporting paths, and Sentinel generally excludes IC3 rows from its older-adult fraud tables.[2]

Is elder fraud “only” internet crime?
IC3 focuses on internet-enabled complaints. FTC Sentinel also covers many phone, mail, and in-person consumer fraud reports that people choose to file.[1][2]

Should I buy identity-theft monitoring because of these stats?
Stats alone do not choose a product. See identity theft protection for seniors and free steps at IdentityTheft.gov.

Where do I report?
ic3.gov (FBI IC3) and ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC). Older adults can also use the National Elder Fraud Hotline (833) FRAUD-11 / (833) 372-8311 listed in IC3 elder materials.[3]

Sources

1. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center. 2025 Internet Crime Report (Elder Fraud section: complaints filed by individuals 60+). https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf. Accessed October 30, 2026. (Full PDF downloaded and text extracted.)
2. Federal Trade Commission. Protecting Older Consumers 2025–2026: A Report of the Federal Trade Commission (Consumer Sentinel section). https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2026-older-adults-report-10192026.pdf (also mirrored at search.ftc.gov path used for download). Accessed October 30, 2026. (Full PDF opened.)
3. Federal Bureau of Investigation / IC3. Elder Fraud tri-fold brochure (“Report It!”). https://www.ic3.gov/Outreach/Brochures/elder_fraud_tri-fold.pdf. Accessed October 30, 2026. (Full PDF opened.)
4. Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/. Accessed October 30, 2026.

Disclaimer

This article is for general education only and is not medical, legal, or financial advice. Crime statistics are incomplete and change yearly. Talk to a licensed attorney or law enforcement about your situation if you were targeted. In an emergency, call 911.

Attribution

Portions of this page are adapted from "HowToLiveBetter" (高性价比人生指南) by eternity4719, https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Changes: topic and evidence approach adapted from Chapter 08; rewritten for U.S. elder-fraud statistics (not a direct translation). China-specific anti-fraud content was not used. Re-sourced to FBI/IC3 and FTC.