Older Americans reported $2.1 billion in fraud losses of $100,000 or more. That is 70% of the $3 billion total, per the FTC.
Read that again. Most of the money did not vanish in small bites. It left in big, confident, six-figure chunks.
Somebody sat at a kitchen table and wired a hundred grand to a stranger. Then they did it again, probably, because the stranger was so nice about it.
The Federal Trade Commission tracks this. Good. Somebody should. Certainly not the victims.
Here is the part that should bother you. These people had decades of experience. Mortgages. Marriages. Mondays. And a man named "Agent Kyle from the Social Security Administration" still got them.
Retail traders will read this and feel superior. Don't. You bought a stock because a guy with ring lights said "squeeze." The only difference is the scammer at least has the decency to stay on the phone.
The FTC says the losses are surging at the top end. Fewer victims, bigger checks. That is the same business model as a hedge fund, minus the Christmas party.
Consider the efficiency. A scammer in a call center does one phone call and collects more than you will earn in three years of "disciplined swing trading." His win rate is also better than yours. His risk management is flawless. He never holds overnight.
Nobody is tracking his Sharpe ratio. Perhaps they should. It would be the only financial metric in this country worth reading.
Your uncle's brokerage app sent a confetti animation when he bought that meme coin. A scammer sent him a gift card request. Both took his money. Only one made him feel special first.
The scammers are not the problem. The problem is that grandpa finally found an investment with guaranteed returns, and the returns went to Lagos.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
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