SAN ANTONIO – The FBI’s top agent in San Antonio is warning families about a growing wave of fraud targeting older Americans.
Daniel Faith, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio Division, said people age 60 and older are the largest demographic being targeted.
“Just last year alone, we had over 200,000 complaints to our Internet Crime Complaint Center — resulting in about $7.5 billion in loss,” Faith said.
Faith said older adults are often targeted because they may have accumulated more wealth and are more likely to answer phone calls and engage with strangers. Scammers may also target victims repeatedly.
“If you fall for it once, you’re now gonna be targeted multiple times,” Faith said.
Common scams include criminals impersonating law enforcement, the IRS, banks or other government agencies. Faith said jury duty scams are also prevalent, with callers claiming a victim missed…
Treat every unsolicited “urgent” communication from a bank or government agency as a potential “Vishing” or “Smishing” attack, regardless of how official the branding or phone number appears.