Thieves turn to high-tech to scam seniors

America’s senior citizens face new scams designed to sucker money from them as fraudsters target their computers and smartphones and use social media posts to lend authenticity to bogus kidnapping calls.

Though mail and telemarketing scams remain the biggest ripoffs for older Americans, authorities are concerned that online activity and cellphones leave seniors — and everyone else — vulnerable.

The Justice Department announced its largest sweep of elder fraud cases, involving 250 defendants worldwide accused of victimizing more than 1 million Americans, largely seniors, to the cost of more than $500 million. The Federal Trade Commission recovered about $300 million on behalf of victims last year, and federal prosecutors and state attorneys general are bringing criminal cases.

“Technology has given scammers the ability to reach more people at a lower cost,” said Amy Nofziger, who works for the AARP Foundation and teaches elder fraud seminars. “You can reach millions of people with one hit of a button.”

Overall, scammers extracted about $1 billion from Americans last year, and 70% of reported fraud began with a phone call, according to the FTC, which said phone-based scams took nearly $300 million from Americans, while online fraud took $141 million and email-based fraud $100 million.

Scams involving fake tech support, online dating and tax refunds are rapidly gaining ground. Although federal officials said Millennials are twice as likely to be scammed as seniors, they’re less likely to lose as much: Consumers in their 70s lost an average of $621, while victims ages 80 and older lost nearly $1,100. Millennials lost $400 on average, according to the FTC.