This holiday season, Iowans will gather with loved ones making it a great time for discussions about financial fraud to help prevent those you care about from becoming victims.
The Iowa Insurance Division’s Iowa Fraud Fighters program focuses on fraud against elder Iowans, but younger Iowans also are falling victim to scams at a higher rate than ever before.
Fraud prevention firm SEON analyzed data collected in 2020 by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and found fraud complaints from consumers under the age of 20 had the largest increase in 2019 and 2020.
Victims under 20 had collective losses of approximately $3,000 per person.
The report also found that the older the victim, the more money they lost.
This finding may be due to older Americans generally having more assets than our younger consumers.
But fraudsters do not discriminate when it comes to age, so consumers of all generations should know these tips to prevent being scammed:
- Don’t answer unknown phone calls, and be wary of any unsolicited offers.
- Be skeptical. Don’t rely on caller identification or believe official-sounding titles or company logos.
- Organizations such as the IRS, Social Security and Medicare will not ask you for information they already have.
- Never give out your personal or financial information.
- Gift cards are for giving. No legitimate business or government…
