Fraud on the rise: Elderly Tennesseans lost $43 million to scams in 2023

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Last year, Tennesseans over the age of 60 lost a collective $43 million to a wide array of scams targeting the elderly—a nearly 18% increase from the losses reported to the FBI in 2022.

More and more people are continuing to fall victim to scams aimed at deceiving the nation’s most vulnerable population, not just in Tennessee but across the United States, according to a new report released by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

The IC3 receives thousands of complaints reporting numerous different scams every day, with those reports racking up to 101,068 victims over the age of 60 and more than $3.4 billion in losses in 2023. Nationwide, that reflects a 14% increase in elder fraud over the past year.

Last year, as in 2022, tech support fraud was the number one crime type impacting the nation’s elderly population, while investment scams continued to be the costliest in terms of financial losses suffered.

A majority of those affected in Tennessee also were victims of people posing as a technical or customer support service, with 332 people over the age of 60 in the state losing a collective total of $6,858,656 to those types of scams.

Another 139 elderly Tennesseans had their personal data breached and 131 fell victim to confidence or romance scams where a person is tricked into sending money, as well as personal and financial information, to someone pretending to be in a relationship with them.

Victims of romance scams had the fourth most financial losses in the state, topping out at just over $4 million. Similar to national trends, elderly victims in Tennessee poured the most money into investment scams due to deceptive practices inducing them to make purchases based on false information.

In total, Tennesseans over 60 lost $14,937,890 to investment scams last year. The FBI’s report also shows there was a nearly 8% increase in the overall number of Tennesseans who were victims of elder fraud in 2023.

The state ranked at No. 20 for the most complaints filed in the U.S. and at No. 23 for the most financial losses reported. California, Florida, Texas, Arizona and New York were among the top five states in the nation with the most complaints regarding elder fraud.

Each year, the FBI said it publishes the report “in hopes of shining a spotlight on the frauds and scams impacting those over 60 and preventing not only future victimization but also revictimization.”

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However, officials said the report only offers a glimpse at the issue. The numbers don’t “fully capture” the frauds and scams targeting the elderly population as only about half or more of the over 880,000 complaints received last year contained age data.

To read the full report, click here .

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