The FBI’s Los Angeles office is warning the public about scams targeting seniors.

The warning was issued on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which is observed on June 15. While many Americans have been focused on overcoming the pandemic, cyber criminals have been using the opportunity to profit from people’s dependence on technology. Tactics include phishing, spoofing, extortion and other types of web-based fraud.

In 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 791,790 complaints with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion. Based on the information provided in the complaints, approximately 28% of the total fraud losses were sustained by victims over the age of 60, resulting in approximately $1 billion in losses to seniors. This represents an increase of approximately $300 million in losses reported in 2020 versus what was reported by victims over 60 in 2019.

Suspects target seniors using romance scams, tech support scams, grandparent scams home repair fraud, caregiver scams and sweepstakes scams. In romance scams, criminals frequently pose as interested romantic partners on dating websites to capitalize on elderly victims’ desire to find companions. Tech support scams involve criminals who pose as support representatives and offer to fix computer issues, gaining remote access to victims’ devices and sensitive information.

The FBI said perpetrators of grandparent scams frequently pose as relatives – usually a child or grandchild – claiming to be in immediate dire financial need. The suspects attempt to get seniors to wire or transfer money.

In sweepstakes, charity and lottery scams, criminals claim to work for legitimate charitable organizations to gain victims’ trust or claim their targets have won a foreign lottery or sweepstake, which they can collect for a fee.

Criminals also appear in person to perpetrate home repair scams, in which they charge homeowners in advance for home improvement services are never provided.

In caregiver scams, people hired to take care of seniors attempt to gain access to the victim’s financial information.

Taking appropriate measures can help protect victims. Learn to recognize scam attempts and end all communication with perpetrators. Search online for contact information and double-check when a caller promises offers that sound too good to be true. In many cases, other people have posted information online about individuals and businesses trying to perpetrate scams.

Never give or send any personally identifiable information, money, jewelry, gift cards or checks to unverified people or businesses.

To report a scam to the FBI’s Los Angeles office, call (310)477-6565.