Investment & Cryptocurrency Fraud
Fake advisors — often met first on social media or dating apps — convince seniors to move retirement savings into fraudulent crypto platforms that show realistic fake gains before vanishing entirely. This single scam type cost Americans 60+ an estimated $4.43 billion in 2025 alone.
(FBI IC3)
2024
crypto victim
Fake texts and emails that look like they're from USPS, a toll agency, your bank, Amazon, or Apple — each with an urgent link to a counterfeit site built to steal your information. The fastest-growing way scams reach people today.
Fake Microsoft or Apple alerts claim your computer is infected. "Technicians" gain remote access, then enter your financial accounts directly.
Callers posing as IRS, Social Security, or Medicare threaten arrest, deportation, or benefit suspension unless you pay immediately in gift cards or crypto.
Fake profiles on dating sites and Facebook build genuine relationships over weeks, then manufacture a financial crisis that requires your help — and your money.
Using AI to clone grandchildren's voices from social media, scammers call grandparents claiming emergencies — bail, accidents, hospitals — and demand immediate wire transfers before you can verify.
Free equipment offers, fake Medicare representatives, and billing scams steal your Medicare number and use it to bill the system for services never rendered.
Thieves steal Social Security numbers to open credit cards, file fraudulent tax returns, access retirement accounts, and sell data on the dark web — often undetected for months.
How to Spot Almost Any Scam
The scams above look different on the surface — a phone call, a text about a package, a new online romance, a "frozen" Social Security number — but they share a single playbook. Recognize the pattern and you can spot a scam you've never seen before. Almost every one combines four things: urgency (you must act right now), a trusted name (a government agency, your bank, a delivery service, a relative), fear or secrecy (a threat, or "don't tell anyone"), and a push toward hard-to-trace payment — gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or a payment app like Zelle or Venmo.
Real companies and government agencies don't operate this way. They won't demand instant payment in gift cards, threaten your arrest, or ask you to "verify" your account through a link in an unexpected message. When something feels urgent, that's the moment to slow down and verify independently: look up the organization's real phone number or website yourself instead of using the contact details you were given. If you're not sure about a specific message or call, our "Is This a Scam?" answers walk through the most common ones. If you think you've already been caught, go straight to what to do if you've been scammed and how to report it.