Surge in scams targeting seniors
Have you got a call from someone telling you that they’re calling to help you fix your laptop? Or a text asking you if you are someone they met at a social event? Or that weird email from someone you didn’t know? Or perhaps a call from someone telling you that they’re with a law enforcement agency and that you’re in hot water.
If it’s happened to you, you’re not alone.
In a June 6 Ethnic Media Services briefing, agents from the San Francisco FBI field office and the SF Police Department Special Victims Unit, joined advocates from the Institute on Aging and Self Help for the Elderly to discuss the financial and emotional toll on elders targeted by scams and how to protect vulnerable people from fraud.
The Gold Bar Scam
In February 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio reported that two Indian nationals were charged in an elder fraud scheme, the ‘Gold Bar Courier Scam.’ According to a statement, a federal grand jury indicted Anil Mangukia, 39, of Edison, New Jersey, and Yash Navadia, 25 of Secaucus, New Jersey, with a money laundering conspiracy for their roles in a “Courier Scam” targeting older Americans. The pair allegedly stole more than $127,000 and attempted to steal an additional $650,000 from a victim in Warren, Ohio.
Court documents stated that the co-conspirators posed as customer service employees at a company or bank and contacted victims, typically older persons, claiming their account was at risk or had been hacked. The victim was then referred to another perpetrator posing as a government agent who would verify the claim and instruct the victim to move money via cryptocurrency or bank transfers to another so-called secure account controlled by the perpetrators, or purchase gold or other valuables and move them to the perpetrators’ account, giving them full access to the stolen funds.
$3.4 billion in losses
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (or IC3) reports a surge in fraud targeting the elderly. In 2023, the monetary losses resulting from these frauds added up to $3.4 billion, an 11 percent jump from the losses reported in 2022. The number of complaints made by those over the age of 60 was a little over 101,000—up by 14 percent from the year before that.
“California leads all other states in both the dollar loss and the number of victims to such crimes,” said Robert K. Tripp, who heads the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office, speaking at a recent EMS press event.
In an email to India Currents Joyce Petrowski, founder and president of R.O.S.E., a non-profit that educates the elderly about frauds, wrote, “Criminals cast a wide net and go after low-hanging fruit.”
Petrowski means that such elements may target an elderly person of any ethnic set.
42% of victims from Asian communities
Sargent Tony Flores of the San Francisco Police Department, who also spoke at the EMS event, also said that no one community is being selected.
Anni Chung, president and CEO of Self-Help for the Elderly, dropped an interesting fact. “Over 42 percent of the victims are from the Asian community,” she said.
Those “42 percent” are members of the Asian-American community who are monolingual speakers. They speak one language—their native language. Often, when language is a barrier, it makes connecting with those of a different culture very difficult. That makes them feel socially isolated, which, in turn, makes them vulnerable.
Language barriers make the elderly vulnerable
When people aren’t able to talk to others of a different culture or read media that is in a different language, they take comfort in meeting folks of the same culture. That is also what may lead them in the path of fraudsters.
A person could be sitting on a bench in a park and they could be approached by a stranger who looks like them and talks like them and they could even come from the same province in their home country as they are.
“Immediately, the person lets their guard down because they’re able to speak in your language,” Sargent Flores said. “Vulnerability is what these people look for.”
Once they sense that, they draw you into a conversation, speaking with you in a way that will engage you and build trust. And they don’t work alone. They work in groups of anywhere between two and five, depending on the nature of the fraud.
Will they steal your money? Will they steal your heart? Will they offer you a job? Will they exploit your faith?
Investment fraud
In 2023, as in 2022, the maximum number of frauds were related to “tech support frauds.” But, it was the ones related to “investment” that cost the elderly the most in monetary losses. In the Bay Area, “cryptocurrency is very often put forth as a very lucrative investment opportunity. But there is no cryptocurrency,” Agent Tripp added.
The lonely can fall prey to fake romances, which may then lead the criminal to ask for money from an individual on the pretext of being their romantic partner. Often, they tell their victims that they are serving in the military or that they are working on projects outside the U.S. This makes it easier to avoid in-person meetings and request that they be sent money overseas, which could be for anything ranging from a sudden legal fee to the purchase of an ID.
Sometimes, these requests can devolve into “sextortion,” if the individual has provided illicit pictures to the fraudster. In 2023, victims over the age of 60 reported 3,318 sextortion complaints, with reported losses over $6 million.
Shame of victimhood
A big reason that the elderly are picked on more than individuals in any other age bracket is that they “may not be around” to appear in court in the event that the perpetrators are caught and held accountable, said Sargent Flores.
“Shame” at the thought of having been a victim prevents one from reporting a crime. “About two-thirds of the Chinese-American community do not report that they have been defrauded,” said Chung.
But that is a sure-fire way of empowering those who commit them.
“There is no shame in being a victim. It’s so important that people report their experiences, Agent Tripp reminded.
This series was made possible in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program.
Photo by Gervyn Louis on Unsplash
