The Websters were targeted in a Jamaican lottery scheme, one of a variety of scams designed to separate seniors from their money. Other common schemes include romance scams, which prey on lonely seniors, and technical-support scams, in which criminals call potential victims and trick them into providing remote access to their computers or devices.

“Our elder fellow citizens deserve our support and our protection, and we’re going to do everything we can to be sure they’re not defrauded and that they are protected,” William Webster said at today’s press conference.

The FBI has opened 66 economic crime investigations related to elder fraud since March 1, 2018, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a web-based clearinghouse for complaints of suspected crimes facilitated by the Internet. Its data shows confidence fraud and romance scams aimed at the elderly accounted for more than $184 million in losses over the past year.

Technical-support fraud schemes have cost victims over age 60 more than $26 million since last March. The schemes generated more than 142,000 complaints last year to the Federal Trade Commission, with consumers over age 70 filing the most complaints.

Meanwhile, the FBI and its partners conducted more than 300 interviews and served scores of warning letters during a two-month sweep last fall aimed at “money mules”—people who conduct illegal financial transactions (sometimes unwittingly) on behalf of criminals. In some cases, seniors who have been tapped out of their money are then asked to help facilitate other transactions with the false promise of earning a lucrative fee.

Criminals target seniors because they tend to be more trusting, polite, and financially secure. They are also less likely to report a crime because of shame or embarrassment. That said, it is important to inform law enforcement, whether by reporting fraud to the FBI’s IC3, the Federal Trade Commission, or local or state authorities. That way, law enforcement can spot trends, warn the public about specific scams, and develop strategies to stop the fraudsters.