{
  "id": "us-elder-fraud-losses",
  "title": "US reported fraud losses, adults 60 and older",
  "metric": "Aggregate reported fraud loss, adults 60+ (FTC Consumer Sentinel)",
  "unit": "USD, billions",
  "kind": "cost",
  "volatility": "fast",
  "direction_note": "rising = more dollars reported lost to fraud by the 60+ cohort each year; these are REPORTED losses (a floor — the FTC says the vast majority of fraud goes unreported)",
  "publisher": "No Margin Left",
  "source": {
    "label": "FTC, \"Protecting Older Consumers 2024–2025\" (annual report to Congress under the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act), Figure 1, citing the Consumer Sentinel Network",
    "url": "https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P144400-OlderAdultsReportDec2025.pdf"
  },
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "No Margin Left, \"US reported fraud losses, adults 60 and older\" (Aggregate reported fraud loss, adults 60+ (FTC Consumer Sentinel)). CC BY 4.0. https://nomarginleft.com/data/us-elder-fraud-losses.json",
  "canonical": "https://nomarginleft.com/data/us-elder-fraud-losses.json",
  "csv": "https://nomarginleft.com/data/us-elder-fraud-losses.csv",
  "retrieved": "2026-06-05",
  "stale": false,
  "observations": [
    {
      "date": "2020",
      "value": 0.6,
      "confidence": "sourced",
      "checked": "2026-06-05",
      "note": "~$600M aggregate reported fraud loss by adults 60+ (FTC Figure 1: $306M under $10K + $218M $10K–$100K + $76M over $100K). The base year of the 300% rise.\n"
    },
    {
      "date": "2021",
      "value": 1,
      "confidence": "sourced",
      "checked": "2026-06-05",
      "note": "~$1.0B (FTC Figure 1: $584M + $341M + $100M)."
    },
    {
      "date": "2022",
      "value": 1.6,
      "confidence": "sourced",
      "checked": "2026-06-05",
      "note": "~$1.6B (FTC Figure 1: $1.0B + $482M + $101M)."
    },
    {
      "date": "2023",
      "value": 1.9,
      "confidence": "sourced",
      "checked": "2026-06-05",
      "note": "~$1.9B (FTC Figure 1: $1.3B + $566M + $105M)."
    },
    {
      "date": "2024",
      "value": 2.4,
      "confidence": "sourced",
      "checked": "2026-06-05",
      "note": "~$2.4B reported by 109,580 of 421,031 age-tagged 60+ reports. FTC: \"a 300% increase\" over 2020. Driven by >$100K losses (up 351%, 5% of reports / 68% of dollars). FTC's own estimate of the TRUE cost, adjusting for underreporting, is $10.1B–$81.5B for 2024.\n",
      "readings": [
        {
          "value": 2.4,
          "source": {
            "label": "FTC Protecting Older Consumers 2024–2025, p.18–20 (Figure 1) — \"$2.4 billion in 2024\"",
            "url": "https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P144400-OlderAdultsReportDec2025.pdf"
          },
          "quote": "reported fraud losses by older adults increased from about $600 million in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2024, a 300% increase"
        },
        {
          "value": 2.3,
          "source": {
            "label": "McKnight's Senior Living, reporting on the same FTC release (rounded down from the page-18 \"nearly $2.4 billion\")",
            "url": "https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/news/older-adults-reported-losing-2-3-billion-to-fraud-in-2024-ftc/"
          },
          "quote": "Reported losses from people 60 and older totaled nearly $2.4 billion"
        }
      ],
      "rationale": "FTC primary is authoritative; the body text says \"nearly $2.4 billion\" and Figure 1 / the headline state \"$2.4 billion\" and \"a 300% increase\", so 2.4 is the resolved value. The McKnight's 2.3 is the same figure rounded down and corroborates the magnitude.\n"
    }
  ],
  "corrections": []
}