Report: S.C. residents 60 and older lost nearly $10M from cyber scams in 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WMBF) – Millions of dollars were lost last year in cyber scams that targeted older South Carolinians.

U.S. Attorney M. Rhett DeHart, citing the FBI’s 2020 Elder Fraud Report, said 1,350 S.C. residents aged 60 or older fell victim to cyber scammers and reported losses of nearly $10 million.

Across the nation, there was over $1 billion in losses by victims aged 60 or over, representing 28% of all losses reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, a release from DeHart’s office stated.

The average dollar loss for those 60 and older nationwide was $9,175, officials said.

DeHart urges the public to be vigilant of these crimes and to help older family members so they don’t become victims of elder fraud scams.

“Criminals often prey on those they believe are most susceptible to their schemes,” DeHart said. “Unfortunately, this means our elder neighbors are highly targeted by exploitative cybercriminals. It is critical that all South Carolinians, particularly those over the age of 60, be vigilant of such crimes and that, when and where able, family members assist in protecting their elders to prevent them from falling victim to such crimes.”

According to the annual report from the FBI, the most common scams against seniors in 2020 were extortion, non-payment/non-delivery, tech support fraud and identity theft. Some of these crimes stemmed from the new use of digital purchasing of goods during the pandemic.

Those who fall victim to such a scam should contact the FBI and the Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11, according to the release.