HONOLULU — Seniors in Hawai‘i over 60 years of age lost $27,965,497 last year to fraud schemes targeting older Americans’ money or cryptocurrency, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In Hawai‘i, 453 complaints were filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center last year, ranking Hawai‘i 37th nationally. California led the nation last year with 11,622 elder fraud complaints.
Last year’s losses by Hawai‘i fraud victims represent a sharp increase from 2021, when just over $10 million was taken from seniors by online criminals. In total, Hawai‘i victims lost $17.2 million to online crimes in 2021.
The nearly $28 million in losses handled by Hawai‘i victims ranks the state 28th nationally. Elder fraud victims in California suffered the most, losing $643,230,534 million.
Nationwide, scams targeting people 60 and older caused over $3.4 billion in losses in 2023, an increase of about 11 percent from 2022.
“We appreciate all those who have reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (or IC3). It’s invaluable information so we can pursue justice for victims, but we still have a lot more to do. We encourage the public to invite the FBI to speak about fraud schemes, including Elder Fraud, for more awareness and reporting at IC3.gov so we can help prevent our kupuna from being victimized,” Honolulu FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“We are asking for the public’s help in order to investigate those who prey on our kupuna and hopefully return recovered funds to the rightful owners.”
Merrill urged victims and anyone with information about fraud purveyors preying on seniors to contact FBI Honolulu at 808-566-4300 and ask for the Community Outreach Program.
The most common forms of elder fraud are investment scams, tech support schemes, extortion and confidence or romantic cons.
Investment fraud involves “complex financial crimes often characterized as low-risk investments” with guaranteed returns.
They include advanced fee frauds, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, market manipulation fraud, real estate investing and trust-based investing such as cryptocurrency investment scams, according to the FBI.
Romance scams occur when a crook creates a fake online identity to win a senior’s “affection or confidence.”
The scammer uses the “illusion of a romantic or close relationship” to manipulate and steal from the victim.
“Combating the financial exploitation of those over 60 years of age continues to be a priority of the FBI,” wrote FBI Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall, who leads the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in the report.
“Along with our partners, we continually work to aid victims and to identify and investigate the individuals and criminal organizations that perpetrate these schemes and target the elderly.”
A lot of elder fraud is unreported, and the losses could be significantly higher, according to the FBI.
More than 101,000 victims aged 60 and over reported falling prey to fraud last year while victims under the age of 20 accounted for about 18,000 scam and fraud victims.
U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors told the Star-Advertiser that the “record losses” suffered by victims nationwide included billions of dollars lost to elder fraud schemes.
“We encourage you to be the first line of defense for yourself and your loved ones by learning about the myriad frauds targeting our Kupuna, including lottery scams, tech scams, romance scams, phishing scams, money muling and various crypto scams,” Connors said.
“Listen to and talk with your family members about their online and in person interactions, and be on the lookout for unusual financial transactions such as unexplained withdrawals, purchases of cryptocurrency or uncharacteristic money transactions.”
Connors urged victims, their family and friends to report abuse or suspected abuse to law enforcement and protective services.
“We are committed to working with our federal, state and local partners to investigate crimes and to prosecute those who prey on our Kupuna, and we ask for your help bringing these matters to our attention,” she said.
