Scams by Age: Who Gets Scammed Most, and Who Loses the Most?
Are older people really scammed more? These are the Federal Trade Commission's own numbers by age, from its Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, published March 10, 2025. It's the most recent annual edition: on October 14, 2026, the FTC's page for a 2025 edition still returned "not found".
Which age group gets scammed the most?
It depends on what you count. Younger people report losing money more often: in 2024, 51% of fraud reports from people 19 and under involved a money loss, compared with 21% for people 80 and over. But older people lose far more when they do: the median loss for people 80 and over was $1,650, about 4 times the $417 median for people in their 20s. People in their 60s reported the most money lost in total, $1.18 billion.
Fraud reports and losses by age, 2024
Based on the 1,177,005 fraud reports in which people gave their age (45% of all 2,600,678 fraud reports). Download the table (CSV).
| Age | Fraud reports | Share of reports | Reports with a money loss | Median loss | Total lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 and Under | 30,330 | 3% | 51% | $189 | $55 million |
| 20-29 | 155,346 | 13% | 44% | $417 | $430 million |
| 30-39 | 203,764 | 17% | 40% | $450 | $810 million |
| 40-49 | 191,508 | 16% | 38% | $500 | $971 million |
| 50-59 | 175,898 | 15% | 35% | $520 | $1.01 billion |
| 60-69 | 208,896 | 18% | 29% | $691 | $1.18 billion |
| 70-79 | 159,550 | 14% | 24% | $1,000 | $887 million |
| 80 and Over | 51,713 | 4% | 21% | $1,650 | $319 million |
The FTC rounds total losses to the nearest million dollars.
What the numbers show
- Losing money is more common among younger people. The share of reports with a money loss falls with every age group, from 51% for people 19 and under to 21% for people 80 and over.
- The typical loss grows with age. The median loss goes up with every age group, from $189 for people 19 and under to $1,650 for people 80 and over.
- The most money lost in total: people in their 60s, with $1.18 billion. They also filed the most fraud reports of any age group (208,896).
- Identity theft peaks earlier. People in their 30s filed the most identity theft reports (291,807), and people 80 and over the fewest (9,605). 86% of the 1,135,291 identity theft reports included an age.
Identity theft reports by age, 2024
| Age | Identity theft reports |
|---|---|
| 19 and Under | 21,420 |
| 20-29 | 187,195 |
| 30-39 | 291,807 |
| 40-49 | 207,658 |
| 50-59 | 135,758 |
| 60-69 | 83,485 |
| 70-79 | 36,790 |
| 80 and Over | 9,605 |
How to read these numbers
- They're reports, not a survey. The FTC says the Data Book "is based on unverified reports filed by consumers" and "is not based on a consumer survey" (p. 2). Many scams are never reported.
- Only 45% of fraud reports include an age. The percentages above describe those reports, not every fraud report and not every person in each age group.
- Shares are of reports, not people. "21% for people 80 and over" means 21% of the reports they filed included a money loss.
- Losses count reports of $1 to $999,999. That's how the FTC calculates amounts lost (p. 3).
Protect the older people in your family
- Make a family scam safety plan: who to call to check a story, your family code word and the official numbers, on one printable page.
- Phone call from a "grandchild" in trouble? See grandparent scams and AI voice clones.
- Calls about Medicare? See how to spot Medicare scam calls.
- Already lost money? Start with the scam recovery checklist.
More FTC data: the most scammed states, the most scammed cities and how scams start and how people paid.
Data: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, copied from the FTC's own CSV files on October 14, 2026, with totals checked against the FTC's footers. U.S. government works are not covered by copyright (USA.gov). You're welcome to use and cite this table; please credit the FTC.