A Woodland Hills teenager recalls how her grandparents nearly got scammed, and now the 16-year-old has turned that experience into a learning platform, specifically for seniors. From fake calls to phony texts, with AI adding to the confusion, Girl Scout Annabelle Miller already understands how sophisticated scammers can be. “This guy pretending to be...Read More
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The FBI is sounding the alarm after seniors in San Diego County reported losing at least $108 million in elder fraud scams in 2024. “Just in the last two weeks, I’ve had two victims, both of them reported over $2 million stolen from them,” said Michael Rod, a supervisory special agent...Read More
LARGO, Fla. – A report from the Federal Trade Commission showed a spike in reported losses from fraud among seniors. The FTC released its Protecting Older Consumers 2024-2025 report last month. Law enforcement officers in the Tampa Bay area are now warning of a rise in scams targeting seniors. READ: DOJ seizes stolen database targeting Americans in...Read More
(Photo credit: Pexels/cottonbro studio) Everyone has been told not to share personal information with strangers or give money for a scenario that seems too good to be true. Yet during 2024, scammers stole $12.5 billion from Americans, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It actually is even worse, because some victims are just too embarrassed...Read More
(Pew Research Center illustration; photo via Getty Images) How we did this Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans’ experiences with and views of online scams and attacks. For this analysis, we surveyed 9,397 adults from April 14 to 20, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the...Read More
Online and text message scams are on the rise. Tim Harrington lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, and told the Scripps News Group in Tampa he started noticing them a few years ago. “It’s just gotten progressively worse since. Like it’s, it’s completely out of control,” said Harrington. Former law enforcement officer turned cybersecurity expert and...Read More
MARATHON COUNTY, Wis. (WSAW) – People in Marathon County, mostly seniors, are losing up to $180,000 to scammers who convince them to deposit cash into cryptocurrency machines and send digital money to scammers. The scams start with phone calls where scammers tell victims they have a warrant out for their arrest or missed jury duty...Read More
(Screenshot by Jo Lutz for the Daily Press)Grant County Sheriff Raul Villanueva warned residents of rampant online and phone scams targeting senior citizens. He also introduced a public comment portal for his department, accessible via the Grant County sheriff’s Facebook page or using a QR code posted on patrol vehicles and at the Sheriff’s Office....Read More
“One of us has to go to North Carolina,” Joe told me. “Like, as soon as possible.” I sighed, my anger and anxiety rising. We were in the thick of the pandemic, and COVID vaccines weren’t yet available to the public, so it seemed wildly unsafe to travel to a 78-year-old man’s home, particularly around...Read More
Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today sued Athena Bitcoin, Inc. (Athena), one of the country’s largest operators of Bitcoin Automated Teller Machines (BTMs), for charging undisclosed fees on deposits that it knows are often the result of scams, and for failing to implement adequate anti-fraud measures. When users discover they have been scammed and seek...Read More
