Crypto scams targeting older adults: the numbers, the tactics and how families can help

Crypto fraud isn’t only a young person’s problem. In the United States, people aged 60 and over now report the largest losses to crypto scams of any age group, often their life savings. Many never set out to buy crypto at all: they were told to, by someone pretending to be a government agent, a bank, tech support or a new online friend.

This guide sets out what the FBI’s latest figures show, the scams most used against older adults, and what families can do to help.

The numbers

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) includes an Elder Fraud section in its 2025 annual report. For complaints filed by people aged 60 and over:

• 201,266 complaints, up 37% on 2024.
• $7.748 billion in reported losses, up 59%.
• An average loss of $38,500.
• 12,444 people lost more than $100,000.
• Losses described as involving cryptocurrency came to more than $4.3 billion.

For crypto investment fraud specifically, people aged 60 and over filed 13,685 complaints and reported $2.76 billion in losses, more than any other age group.

Crypto losses by age

The same report breaks down crypto investment fraud complaints by age. Losses climb steeply with age:

The scams that cost the most

The IC3 lists the crime types with the highest losses reported by people aged 60 and over in 2025:

How these typically involve crypto:

• Investment scams: a new contact, often met online or through a “wrong number” text, introduces a fake trading platform. See pig butchering scams.
• Tech support scams: a pop-up or call claims the computer or bank account has been hacked, and the “fix” involves moving money, sometimes into crypto. See fake crypto apps and phishing.
• Romance scams: a long online relationship, followed by requests for money or “investment” help.
• Government impersonation: a fake official demands payment in crypto to avoid arrest or “protect” savings. See government impersonation scams.

Many of these end at a bitcoin ATM, where the victim is told to feed in cash and scan a QR code. The IC3 received 13,460 complaints involving crypto ATMs or kiosks in 2025, with $389 million in losses. People aged 60 and over filed 6,188 of those complaints, nearly half, and reported $257.5 million in losses, about two-thirds of the total. See bitcoin ATMs: risks and scams.

New tools for old tricks

The FBI warns that criminals use generative AI to make scams more convincing, including short audio clips of a loved one’s voice to fake a family emergency, and videos for live chats with supposed executives, police or other authority figures. It recommends that families agree a secret word or phrase to verify each other in an emergency.

Warning signs for families

• A relative suddenly asks how to buy crypto or use a bitcoin ATM.
• Large withdrawals of cash, or new accounts at crypto platforms.
• A new online friend or “adviser” they won’t let you speak to.
• Secrecy or unusual stress about money, or reluctance to say who they’re talking to.
• Talk of a government case, a hacked account or an investment that will pay off soon.
• Requests for fees or taxes to withdraw “profits”.

How families can help

1. Talk early, without judgment. Scams target trust and fear; embarrassment stops people from asking for help.
2. Set a simple rule together: no genuine government agency, bank or tech company will ever ask anyone to pay in crypto. The FTC says government agencies never call, email or text to ask for money.
3. Agree a family code word, as the FBI suggests.
4. Offer to be a second pair of eyes before any large transfer.
5. Ask the bank what safeguards it offers, such as alerts on large withdrawals.
6. Add a trusted contact person to brokerage accounts. See below.

The trusted contact person

In the US, when someone opens or updates a brokerage account, the firm will ask for a “trusted contact person”. Providing one is optional, but FINRA, the SEC and NASAA urge investors to consider it:

• It works like an emergency contact: the firm can get in touch with that person in limited circumstances, for example if it can’t reach the account holder or suspects financial exploitation.
• The trusted contact gets no authority over the account: they can’t see the balance, make trades or take decisions, and they aren’t a power of attorney.
• They must be 18 or older, and can be a relative, close friend, lawyer, accountant or someone else the account holder trusts. You can name more than one, and change them at any time.
• Before clicking a link in an email about adding a trusted contact, check that it really came from the firm.

For questions about a brokerage account, FINRA runs a Securities Helpline for Seniors at 844-574-3577, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time.

If it has already happened

• Act fast. Call the bank, the crypto platform or the ATM operator straight away.
• Report it. In the US, to the FBI at ic3.gov. In 2025, through its Financial Fraud Kill Chain process, the FBI handled 642 incidents involving victims aged 60+, with $65.4 million in reported losses, and helped freeze $32.9 million. In the UK, report to Report Fraud (or Police Scotland); in Canada, to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and local police.
• Get support. In the US, the Justice Department’s National Elder Fraud Hotline is 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time. It warns that scammers have also used the hotline’s name, so dial the number yourself.
• Watch for recovery scams. Victims are often targeted again by people promising to get the money back for a fee. In 2025, people aged 60 and over filed 2,529 complaints about recovery scams with $540.5 million in reported losses, the most of any age group, although the IC3 notes these figures may include losses from the earlier scam that led to the contact. See crypto recovery scams.

Reimbursement for bank transfers in the UK

If a UK victim was tricked into sending money by bank transfer, the Payment Systems Regulator’s reimbursement rules may help:

• They apply to authorized push payment (APP) fraud, where someone is tricked into sending money, for payments made on or after 7 October 2024.
• They cover transfers from one UK account to another by Faster Payments or CHAPS. Card, cash and cheque payments have their own, different protections.
• The maximum claim is £85,000. Firms may apply an excess of up to £100, but not to vulnerable consumers.
• You won’t be reimbursed if you were complicit in the fraud or grossly negligent, which the PSR calls a high bar; that exception doesn’t apply to vulnerable consumers.
• If more than £85,000 was lost and not reimbursed, the case can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose limit is £430,000.

The PSR’s advice: contact the bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed.

For an overview of reporting in each country, see crypto scams and where to report them.