NAVARRE, Fla. — Every year, people age 60 or older are scammed out of more than $3 billion nationally.
In 2025, Florida seniors lost $710 million to fraud and scams. It’s a big increase from 2024. That’s all according to the FBI.
Local group “Seniors vs. Crime Northwest Florida” is working to cut down the numbers for their peers. They’re looking for more people to join their mission.
Seniors vs. Crime Northwest Florida are looking for volunteers to join its mission.
The group is a local chapter of the statewide project from the Attorney General’s office.
Scams targeting seniors in the state were up 83% from 2024 to 2025. The group says preventing those crimes starts with education.
“The most important thing that we want to share is people that are victims of crime,” said Christy, manager of the Seniors vs. Crime Northwest Florida officers out of Navarre and Pensacola. “It is no different than somebody coming along and stealing their pocketbook or taking their wallet.”
Florida seniors lost more than $388 million to scams in 2024. Data from the FBI shows that jumped to nearly $710 million in 2025.
View the full 2024 annual report from Seniors vs. Crime below:
“There is nothing wrong with their intelligence,” Christy said. “They’re not losing their mind. They are not inept. They are victims of a crime.”
Florida is ranked No. 2 nationally in total elder fraud losses. The state has more than five million residents over 65, and is known as a retirement destination, making it one of the most heavily targeted states.
“The biggest culprit in scamming is either your telephone, social media, text messaging,” said Christy. “They go into friends groups and they’ll befriend somebody and then the next thing you know they are looking for money because their car broke down, or the seniors just don’t have, they’re not keeping up with the technology.”
“Seniors vs. Crime Northwest Florida,” is a peer to peer project. Volunteers go out and inform their peers about scams to look out for.
“Anybody that reaches out to you cold is probably 99.9% a scam,” Christy said.
They also refer victims to community resources that can help get their money back — if possible.
“We’re seeing $200,000, $300,000 being lost by victims all the time,” said Edward, the region five director for Seniors vs. Crime. “And they’re too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward and let others know that they have been scammed out of this.”
Right now, the nonprofit group says Bitcoin scams are the most common.
“They’ll convince people to put $20,000 or $30,000 in Bitcoin because their bank is defrauding them,” said Christy. “And they’ll say, “Go take it to this ATM, put it in Bitcoin. They’re doing an investigation. Don’t go to your bank. Don’t tell the teller because they’re in on it.’ Well, now they’ve put that money in that Bitcoin ATM machine and the money has gone forever.”
Our region has four offices in the Panhandle. They’re located in Pensacola, Navarre, Crestview, and Tallahassee.
Now, they’re looking for more volunteers as the summer months approach.
“Most of our volunteers, at one time or another, they were victims of scams,” said Edward. “So they want to come in and help educate other seniors on how not to become victims like they were.”
The organization has an event scheduled Wednesday at the Holly-Navarre Senior Center. It’ll start at 11:30 a.m.
Seniors vs. Crime Northwest Florida will host an event Wednesday at the Holley-Navarre Senior Center.
Seniors are invited to attend to learn how to recognize a scam, and protect personal information.
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