A new report by the FBI finds elder fraud has reached a record high, including in Colorado.
Nationwide, more than 200,000 Americans over age 60 reported fraud last year, with losses of nearly $8 billion — a 37% increase over 2024.
In Colorado, more than 3,000 seniors filed complaints, with losses of nearly $75 million.
Debbie Fox is among them. In October of 2023, she met a man online and began video chatting with him.
She knew people weren’t always who they pretended to be, so she did her homework. She found his personal and professional websites, asked to see his passport, and verified his business registration.
His story appeared to check out, but she soon learned it was all an elaborate ruse to steal $48,000.
“With a signed loan agreement and a bank letter of loan guarantee in hand I withdrew money from my retirement account, transferred it to my U.S. Bank account and wired it as directed to the bank account of a registered a business in Florida,” Fox said.
She realized too late it was a scam.
“What happened to me is part of a much larger pattern. This is transnational organized crime targeting Americans across all ages, backgrounds and demographics stealing billions of dollars annually,” Fox said.
The FBI says there are a wide range of elder abuse scams. In addition to posing as romantic partners, it says fraudsters impersonate grandkids and masquerade as the IRS, home repair workers, or tech support companies.
State Sen. Jessie Danielson says they target older people because they know they tend to be generous and trusting.
“Once the money is gone, it’s really hard to get it back,” Danielson said.
Which is why Danielson and state Sen. Marc Catlin have introduced a bill that would enable banks and credit unions to put a temporary hold on any transactions that raise red flags.
“Even if they see a fraudulent transaction in front of them, the law is unclear and doesn’t provide them the protection to halt the transaction without liability,” said Danielson.
The bill, she says, would.
“We have an opportunity to protect older Coloradans from financial abuse,” she said.
Debbie Fox testified in support of the bill, telling the Senate Business and Labor Committee that if her bank had paused the wire transfer, she may have avoided the financial and emotional devastation.
“This is allowing us an opportunity to disrupt the crime. To slow the pace. With a better opportunity to be in the front end of the crime before the financial theft occurs,” Fox said.
Fox says in addition to losing $48,000, she also had to pay the IRS $7,000 for making an early withdrawal from her retirement account.
She says local police couldn’t investigate because the money was sent overseas and, she says, the FBI told her the amount of theft was too small for them to get involved.