FTC Annual Report: Older Adults Reported About $3 Billion in Fraud Losses in 2025, Up About Fivefold Since 2020
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted its annual report to Congress, Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026, on October 19. According to the report, adults aged 60 and over reported about $3 billion in fraud losses in 2025, up about fivefold from roughly $600 million in 2020.
The increase was driven largely by extraordinarily large individual losses. Reports of losses of $100,000 or more rose nearly sevenfold, from about $306 million in 2020 to about $2.1 billion in 2025; such reports made up only about 6 percent of older adults' loss reports but accounted for 70 percent of the money lost.
By category, investment scams remained the costliest for older adults: reported investment scam losses reached $1.06 billion in 2025, up 42 percent, and victims said scammers often first reached them on social media. Compared with younger adults, older adults were also more likely to lose money to tech support scams; prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams; romance scams; government impersonation scams; and scams impersonating friends or family members.
Median individual losses rose with age: people aged 80 and over reported a median loss of $2,000, the highest of any age group. The FTC noted that because most fraud goes unreported, the overall cost of fraud to older adults in 2025 could range from $13.3 billion to as high as $119.5 billion.
Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the agency is committed to protecting older Americans from scams and will take every action necessary to shut down fraud operations. The report also details the FTC's enforcement actions, consumer education and outreach affecting older adults over the past year. The Commission voted 2-0 to issue the report to Congress.
(Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission)
Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国联邦贸易委员会总部大楼（资料图）。摄影：Gryffindor，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The headquarters building of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by Gryffindor, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
