Julie Jason: New resources to protect against fraud

I’m sure you’ll agree that we are living in quickly evolving times (just think of the artificial intelligence technology ChatGPT). As investors, the name of the game is to keep learning — not only to make good decisions, but also to avoid fraud.

This theme of “Never Stop Learning” is the centerpiece of a new public service campaign designed by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA). The effort is focused on helping older investors protect their funds from fraud and abuse.

Protection is needed. Total losses by the elderly due to internet-related fraud increased 84 percent in 2022 from 2021, reaching $3.1 billion for victims over 60 years old, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s Elder Fraud Report 2022 ( tinyurl.com/2p8w78wh). The number of victims topped 88,000, and the average loss per victim was just over $35,000. Nearly 5,500 of the victims lost more than $100,000.

The most common fraud situation involved tech and customer support, with 17,810 victims over the age of 60 and a loss of nearly $588 million. Investment fraud was the costliest for the age group, totaling nearly $1 billion in 2022, a substantial climb from $239 million reported in 2021.

The OIEA campaign provides new resources pages in English ( tinyurl.com/29rz6ax9) and Spanish ( tinyurl.com/an7fwc7w) at Investor.gov.

Start by viewing four short information videos, each lasting a minute or less, that highlight various aspects of concern for older investors. The videos (”How Caregivers Can Protect Older Investors From Financial Fraud and Scams”; “How to Protect Yourself From Fraud Aimed at Older...

from News https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/julie-jason-new-resources-to-protect-against-18157319.php