260 Caught In Sweep Scammed Elderly Of $750M: Justice Department

WASHINGTON, DC — More than 260 people from around the country were caught up in a the largest coordinated sweep yet of elder fraud cases, Attorney General William P. Barr said Thursday. The Justice Department said those arrested scammed more than 2 million Americans, most of them elderly, out of more than $750 million.

No U.S. state was untouched in the sweep. The Justice Department said it either filed criminal or civil cases in every federal district court in the country, or launched consumer education initiatives. Last year's sweep also set records, but this year's saw 13 percent more criminal defendants, 28 percent more in losses and twice the number of victims, Barr said.

As part of the sweep, law enforcement authorities took down a fraudulent tech-support scheme, an increasingly common form of elder fraud in which criminals trick victims into giving them access to their computers under the guise of providing technical support. In 2018, these scams were responsible for more than 142,000 consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network.

Those 60 and older filed more loss reports on tech-support scams from 2015 to 2018 than for any other fraud category reported to the Consumer Sentinel Network, the statement said.

The sweep also resulted in the arrest of more than 600 accused "money mules," usually foreign-based individuals who transfers money acquired illegally in person, through the mail, or electronically, on behalf of others.

Various state and federal agencies, including Senior Corps, a national service program administered by the federal agency the Corporation for National and Community Service, have launched public education campaigns to prevent further victimization, the Justice Department statement said.

Elder fraud complaints may filed with the FTC or by calling (877) FTC-HELP. Other resources to prevent elder abuse fraud are available at the Office of Victims of Crime.

Scams targeting the elderly cause about $2.9 billion in losses annually, according to an earlier report from the government's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Among the key findings of that report:

• Suspicious activity filings on elder financial exploitation quadrupled from 2013 to 2017. In 2017, elder financial exploitation suspicious activity reports totaled 63,500. Based on recent prevalence studies, these 2017 suspicious activity reports likely represent a tiny fraction of actual incidents of elder financial exploitation.
• Money services businesses have filed an increasing share of elder financial exploitation. In 2016, money services business filings surpassed depository institution filings. In 2017, money service business suspicious activity reports made up 58 percent of elder financial exploitation suspicious activity reports, compared to 15 percent in 2013.
• Financial institutions reported a total of $1.7 billion in suspicious activities in 2017, including actual losses and attempts to steal the older adults' funds.
• Nearly 80 percent of elder financial exploitation suspicious activity reports involved a monetary loss to older adults or filers.
• Among reports that involved a loss to an older adult, the average amount lost was $34,200. In 7 percent of these cases, the loss exceeded $100,000.
• When a filer lost money, the average loss per filer was $16,700.
• One-third of the individuals who lost money were ages 80 and older.
• Adults ages 70 to 79 had the highest average monetary loss at an average of $45,300 each.
• Losses were greater when the older adult knew the suspect. The average loss per person was about $50,000 when the older adult knew the suspect and $17,000 when the suspect was a stranger.
• Types of suspicious activity varied significantly by filer. When the filer was an money service business, 69 percent of elder financial exploitation reports described scams by strangers. Depository institution filings, in contrast, involved an array of financial crimes, with 27 percent involving stranger scams.
• More than half of suspicious activity reports involved a money transfer. The second-most common financial product used to move funds was a checking or savings account (44 percent).
• Checking or savings accounts had the highest monetary losses. The average monetary loss to the older adult was $48,300 reports involving a checking or savings account, while the average loss was $32,800 for those involving a money transfer.
• The suspicious activity took place, on average, over a four-month period.
• Fewer than one-third of those filing reports contacted local, state or federal police agencies to make a report. Only 1 percent of money services business filing reports said they contacted a government agency, such as adult protective services or law enforcement.

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260 Caught In Sweep Scammed Elderly Of $750M: Justice Department