10 top scams targeting seniors
<b>Number of complaints in 2018:</b> 68
Fraudsters contact seniors through an online dating site or other kinds of social media. Once they've struck up a relationship, they ask for money, perhaps to pay for a trip to visit the senior or to cover some kind of emergency, like medical costs.
The Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/data-spotlight/2019/02/romance-scams-rank-number-one-total-reported-losses"target="_blank">reported</a> last week that romance-related scams are on the rise, with complaints to the agency jumping from 8,500 in 2017 to more than 21,000 in 2018. Losses related to romance scams totaled $143 million last year, outpacing the losses tied to all other types of consumer fraud, according to FTC data.