Jeffrey Maas, a 76-year-old retiree living in New Jersey, was tricked into a common scam that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars. The FBI estimates that the “phantom hacker/courier scheme costs Americans, most senior citizens, over $500 million annually. Most victims are too embarrassed to admit they have been taken, and never report it to authorities. These scams target older adults who are less tech-savvy and more likely to fall for the scam than their younger counterparts. The AARP reports that people in their 70s reported a median loss of $1,000 per fraud incident, compared to a median of $417 for those in their 20s, and that those in 70s also reported losing a median $20,000 to investment scams. The number of scams reported in 2024 is up 43% from the previous year.