Elder fraud on rise: Older Iowans lost more than $16.4 million in 2023

(AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

By Amie Rivers

May 9, 2024

A new report shows the number of Americans getting scammed is on the rise, and elder fraud is the most common.

Iowa ranked 33rd in the nation for elder fraud, or the number of residents over 60 years of age reporting fraud, and 34th in the nation for the amount of money taken, according to the FBI’s 2023 Elder Fraud Report.

That’s slightly lower than Iowa’s ranking as the nation’s 30th most populous state.

In 2023, 674 Iowans age 60 and above reported having $16,434,421 stolen via scams.

Older Americans were the largest age group getting scammed, with 101,068 adults over 60 reporting fraud to the FBI, or 24% of all age groups. That’s roughly in line with the percentage of Americans who are 60 and older, which was 23.6% in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.

But the money taken from that age group climbed 11% over 2022—more than $3.4 billion in 2023—and complaints were up 14%.

The most common form of scams on Americans 60 and older were tech support scams. But the fraud where the most money was lost—more than $1.2 billion—were investment scams.

Read: Sioux City Republican activist gets light prison sentence for 52 acts of voter fraud

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

View all posts

CATEGORIES: CRIME AND SAFETY | LOCAL HISTORY | MONEY AND JOBS

Support Our Cause

Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Iowans and our future.

Since day one, our goal here at Iowa Starting Line has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Iowan families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.