Sophisticated overseas criminals are stealing tens of billions of dollars from Americans every year, a crime wave projected to get worse as the population ages and technology like AI makes it easier than ever to perpetrate fraud and get away with it.
Internet and telephone scams have grown “exponentially,” overwhelming police and prosecutors who catch and convict relatively few perpetrators, said Kathy Stokes of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.
Victims rarely get their money back, including older people who have lost life savings to romance scams, grandparent scams, technical support fraud and other common grifts, reports the Associated Press.
“We are at a crisis level in fraud in society,” Stokes said. “So many people have joined the fray because it is pretty easy to be a criminal. They don’t have to follow any rules. And you can make a lot of money, and then there’s very little chance that you’re going to get caught.”
In Ohio, an 81-year-old man was targeted by a scammer and allegedly responded with violence/
Police say the man fatally shot an Uber driver after wrongly assuming she was in on a plot to extract $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative. The driver fell victim to the same scammer, sent to the home midway between Dayton and Columbus to pick up a package for delivery.
Homeowner William Brock was charged with murder in the fatal March 25 shooting of Lo-Letha Hall. The scammer remains on the loose more than three months later.
Online and telephone rackets have become so commonplace that law enforcement agencies and adult protective services don’t have the resources to keep up.
“It’s a little bit like drinking from a fire hose,” said Brady Finta, a former FBI agent who supervised elder fraud investigations. “There’s just so much of it, logistically and reasonably, it’s almost impossible to overcome right now.”
Some police departments don’t take financial scams as seriously as other crime and victims wind up demoralized, says Paul Greenwood, who spent 22 years prosecuting elder financial abuse cases in San Diego.
“There’s a lot of law enforcement who think that because a victim sends money voluntarily through gift cards or through wire transfers, or for buying crypto, that they’re actually engaging in a consensual transaction,” said Greenwood, who teaches police how to spot fraud. “And that is a big mistake because it’s not. It’s not consensual. They’ve been defrauded.”
Older people hold more wealth and present a ripe target for scammers. The impact can be devastating as many victims are past their working years and don’t have much time to recoup losses.
Elder fraud complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center rose 14% last yar. Losses increased 11% to $3.4 billion.