To coincide with National Senior Fraud Awareness Day on May 15, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning to the over-60s as cybercriminals place them firmly in the crosshairs of scam attacks. Seniors are primary targets for these despicable scammers for a whole bunch of reasons. Not least, FBI Special Agent Rebecca Keithley said, “they tend to have accumulated significant savings throughout their lives.” Here’s what you need to know to stay safe from such attacks, whether you are a senior yourself or you have family members to help protect.
Here’s How Seniors Can Stay Safe From Scammers—The FBI Way
Cyber scam attacks take a lot of different forms, from Android users being conned out of millions by fraudulent apps, to bogus messages from social media support teams looking to harvest account passwords, to SMS pumping attacks that target your bank account by way of your phone bill. What they all have in common is money. That’s the driving force behind the scams, and that’s why the over-60s are such a prime target, according to the FBI.
According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, more than 200,000 complaints were received in 2025 alone from victims who were over 60. That’s an increase of some 37%, the FBI said, and losses were also on the up: a 59% increase over 2024 took the total to a staggering $7.7 billion. And, yes, you read that number right.
As well as the pure financial factor that attracts the cybercriminal element, FBI Special Agent Rebecca Keithley said that “older victims may be driven by loneliness to communicate with strangers.” They also tend to be more trusting of people than younger generations, which, Special Agent Keithley warned, can make them “more likely to engage with unsolicited phone calls, text messages and emails.”
As well as the pure financial factor that attracts the cybercriminal element, FBI Special Agent Rebecca Keithley said that “older victims may be driven by loneliness to communicate with strangers.” They also tend to be more trusting of people than younger generations, which, Special Agent Keithley warned, can make them “more likely to engage with unsolicited phone calls, text messages and emails.”
The most common scams involving seniors were noted to be as follows:
- Criminals posing as relatives claim that they need money due to a financial emergency.
- Criminals posing as technology support representatives who offer to fix non-existent computer issues.
- Criminals looking to establish online romantic relations with lonely seniors before bleeding their bank accounts dry.
- Criminals collecting money for fake charities.
To mitigate the risk, the FBI advised seniors and their family members to watch out for the following red flags:
- A demand for secrecy.
- A sense of urgency.
- Requests to wire money.
- Requests to pay fees with gift cards.
“The best way to avoid scams is to ignore unsolicited communications, especially calls from unknown numbers,” FBI Special Agent Ron Miller concluded, as “the longer scammers talk to victims, the more successful they are with the scam.”
