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Michigan Seniors Lose Over $67M to Fraud in 2025 as FTC Data Reveals Scale of Scams Targeting Older Americans

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Article courtesy of  Xurrent.

New research from service management platform Xurrent, which looked at Federal Trade Commission data, reveals how many older Americans have fallen victim to fraud in each state in 2025.

Across the year, there were 442,536 reports of fraud among those aged 60 or more, with 24.5% of these resulting in a financial loss. Nationally, the total stolen runs into the billions, with losses per case varying widely depending on where victims live.

The “typical loss” figure reflects the average of median losses across age groups, rather than a simple average of total losses divided by reports.

Michigan findings:

Michigan ranks as the 9th safest state for senior fraud losses, with below-average losses per victim. There were 11,864 reports and $67 million in losses, with 24.1% resulting in financial loss. The typical loss per victim is $882. Compared to Ohio and Indiana, Michigan combines moderate volumes with lower losses, pushing it into the safer tier nationally.

The 5 states with the highest median fraud loss for older Americans

Rank State Total reports Total financial loss Typical loss per victim Percentage of reports with financial loss
1 Nebraska 2,079 $14,741,986 $3,825 24.0%
2 Utah 3,284 $29,760,758 $3,271 24.3%
3 South Dakota 935 $6,886,370 $2,561 28.1%
4 Arizona 14,116 $127,857,068 $2,467 32.0%
5 New Hampshire 3,495 $11,478,784 $1,572 19.1%

Nebraska filed 2,079 fraud reports in 2025 with total losses of roughly $14.7 million. About 24% of those reports involved a financial loss, right at the national average, but when victims in this state do lose money they lose far more of it than anywhere else in the country, with a typical loss of $3,825 per victim, based on median losses across age groups.

That means a typical fraud victim in Nebraska loses roughly nine times more than one in Maine, which ranks last for financial impact with a typical loss of just $430.

Not far behind is Utah, where the typical loss of $3,271 came from 3,284 reports, with total losses topping $29.7 million. About one in four reports involved a financial loss, the same as the national average. Fraud in Utah succeeds at about the average rate. The difference is the cost per victim.

In third place, with a typical loss of $2,561, is South Dakota. The state filed just 935 fraud reports, one of the lowest totals in the country, but 28% of those involved a financial loss, well above the national average. Total losses came to about $6.9 million.

In Arizona, fully 32% of reports resulted in a financial loss, nearly eight percentage points above the national average. Across 14,116 reports the state’s victims lost a combined $128 million, with the typical loss per victim sitting at $2,467.

New Hampshire rounds out the top five. With a total of 3,495 filed reports, fewer than one in five complaints involved a monetary loss. That 19% rate is the second lowest of any state. Those who did lose money lost a typical $1,572, with total losses of about $11.4 million.

The 5 states with the lowest median fraud loss for older Americans

Rank State Total reports Total financial loss Typical loss per victim Percentage of reports with financial loss
1 Maine 2,250 $10,857,187 $430 22.3%
2 North Dakota 585 $4,089,920 $456 29.7%
3 Vermont 1,005 $1,859,201 $728 21.9%
4 Delaware 1,907 $8,616,300 $787 14.7%
5 Oregon 7,060 $39,146,312 $820 23.8%

The good news, for some states at least, is that losses drop off considerably at the other end of the ranking.

Maine ranks last for financial impact, with a typical loss of just $430 per victim, a fraction of what Nebraska’s victims hand over. It is, by that measure, the safest state in the country for older consumers who do fall victim. The state filed 2,250 reports with about $10.9 million in total losses. About 22% of reports involved a financial loss.

North Dakota, second from the bottom, is one of the more curious entries. The state had just 585 reports and total losses of roughly $4.1 million, with a typical loss of $456, but nearly 30% of those reports involved a financial loss, one of the highest conversion rates in the country. The scams landing there work more often; they just do not pay off as richly.

Vermont ranks third from the bottom, with a typical loss of $728 from 1,005 reports and total losses of just $1.9 million. About 22% of reports involved a financial loss.

Delaware follows, with a typical loss of $787 per victim. The state also stands out for having the lowest scam success rate in the country, with just 14.7% of reports resulting in a financial loss. From 1,907 reports, total losses came to about $8.6 million.

Oregon rounds out the bottom five, with 7,060 reports and total losses of about $39.1 million. The typical loss of $820 puts it just above the lowest-ranking states, with around 24% of reports involving a financial loss.

The fraud types costing older Americans the most

Rank Fraud type Total reports (60+) Weighted median loss Total financial loss
1 Misc. investments & advice 14,028 $23,418
$1.04B
2 Government imposters 99,855 $4,116
$447.4M
3 Business imposters 122,750 $1,119
$421.6M
4 Romance scams 10,457 $8,048
$384.1M
5 Prizes, sweepstakes & lotteries 20,145 $2,722
$143.1M
6 Tech support scams 21,735 $3,747
$126.0M
7 Online shopping 41,309 $107
$59.4M
8 Job scams & employment 9,203 $3,208
$55.9M
9 Family & friend imposters 8,884 $1,329
$37.5M
10 Fake check scams 577 $5,959
$8.4M
11 Phone, devices & services 6,876 $201
$4.7M

Investment fraud dwarfs every other category when it comes to the money older Americans lose. Categorized by the FTC as miscellaneous investments and advice, the category drew only 14,028 reports from older consumers, a small fraction of the total, but no other fraud type costs its victims anything close to as much. Total losses surpassed $1 billion, which is more than 38% of all fraud losses among older consumers, and the median victim handed over $23,418.

Romance scams are the second costliest per victim, with a median loss of $8,048. Romance victims collectively filed roughly 10,500 reports and lost $384.1 million between them. Fake check scams are a smaller category altogether, just 577 reports, but the median victim still lost $5,959 and total losses came to $8.4 million.

The sheer number of complaints looks quite different. Business impersonators generated the most complaints by far, with nearly 123,000 reports and $421.6 million in total losses; the typical victim, though, lost just $1,119. Government impersonators were the second most reported category (99,855 complaints) and the second costliest in total dollars at $447.4 million, but at a median of $4,116 per victim they were nearly four times more expensive per case. Tech support scams cost $126 million (21,735 reports, median $3,747) and prizes, sweepstakes and lottery scams $143.1 million (20,145 reports).

Online shopping fraud (41,309 complaints, $59.4 million in losses) had the lowest median loss of any category at just $107. Job scams (9,203 reports, $55.9 million) and family and friend impersonators (8,884 reports, $37.5 million) filled out the rest of the table.

Phil Christianson, Chief Product Officer at Xurrent, commented on the findings: “What you’re seeing in places like Nebraska and Utah is not necessarily more scams, but more damaging ones. These tend to be higher-value fraud types, often linked to investments or long-running scams where trust has been built over time. By the time money changes hands, the amounts involved are much larger.

“The contrast between states is striking. In some places, scams happen more often but involve smaller amounts, while in others they are less frequent but far more financially damaging. That suggests very different types of fraud are dominating in different regions, which is important when thinking about prevention and awareness.

“Investment scams stand out because they are designed to build trust over time. These are not quick wins for fraudsters. They often involve repeated contact, convincing narratives and a sense of legitimacy, which is why the eventual losses are so high. At the other end of the scale, things like online shopping scams happen far more often, but the amounts are smaller. That doesn’t make them harmless, though. The volume of these scams means they still add up to tens of millions in losses overall.”

Source: 

Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/explore-data

Methodology:

Data from 2025 was analyzed to reveal the number of fraud reports nationally and in each state among consumers aged 60 or more. Data also looks at the percentage of reports reporting financial loss and total financial loss. The “typical loss per victim” metric was calculated as the average of median losses across age groups (60-69, 70-79, 80+), rather than total losses divided by report count.

Full rankings:

Rank State Total reports Total financial loss Typical loss per victim Percentage of reports with financial loss
1 Nebraska 2,079 $14,741,986 $3,825 24.0%
2 Utah 3,284 $29,760,758 $3,271 24.3%
3 South Dakota 935 $6,886,370 $2,561 28.1%
4 Arizona 14,116 $127,857,068 $2,467 32.0%
5 New Hampshire 3,495 $11,478,784 $1,572 19.1%
6 Texas 31,458 $237,771,040 $1,571 26.1%
7 Nevada 5,858 $83,957,016 $1,532 24.7%
8 Arkansas 3,644 $21,201,053 $1,460 24.4%
9 Missouri 7,168 $39,362,125 $1,449 27.0%
10 Wyoming 734 $3,437,951 $1,442 25.7%
11 New Mexico 3,316 $20,444,932 $1,429 25.8%
12 North Carolina 14,069 $76,280,245 $1,370 24.9%
13 Virginia 12,185 $72,960,186 $1,367 23.7%
14 Alaska 902 $6,912,623 $1,365 25.3%
15 California 48,355 $410,025,866 $1,361 24.2%
16 Alabama 5,969 $28,617,038 $1,353 25.2%
17 Kentucky 4,669 $25,889,771 $1,317 25.2%
18 Connecticut 4,614 $26,488,808 $1,257 24.6%
19 Iowa 3,262 $18,820,400 $1,236 26.1%
20 South Carolina 7,524 $41,008,763 $1,233 26.2%
21 Montana 1,795 $12,053,158 $1,212 25.4%
22 New York 21,273 $131,238,425 $1,200 23.4%
23 Georgia 12,212 $81,491,373 $1,172 26.6%
24 Louisiana 4,798 $26,475,574 $1,152 25.7%
25 Florida 40,189 $258,274,038 $1,143 24.8%
26 Tennessee 8,994 $62,349,510 $1,120 25.2%
=27 Pennsylvania 16,936 $90,446,078 $1,092 23.0%
=27 Idaho 2,459 $13,381,452 $1,092 26.2%
28 Rhode Island 1,285 $5,841,044 $1,067 22.9%
29 Colorado 9,370 $48,289,744 $1,030 23.2%
30 Washington 12,564 $66,146,649 $1,017 21.6%
31 Illinois 16,818 $78,739,597 $1,005 19.2%
=32 Minnesota 6,448 $37,564,849 $1,000 25.8%
=32 Oklahoma 4,467 $26,554,469 $1,000 25.9%
33 Ohio 15,081 $68,297,275 $998 22.2%
34 Maryland 9,681 $56,127,933 $990 20.0%
35 Hawaii 1,744 $16,122,171 $975 32.4%
36 Massachusetts 8,943 $40,477,401 $943 22.3%
37 Mississippi 2,967 $14,059,824 $937 24.9%
38 Kansas 3,982 $15,895,668 $916 21.6%
39 Indiana 7,904 $36,015,393 $883 23.5%
40 Michigan 11,864 $66,972,848 $882 24.1%
41 Wisconsin 6,923 $31,737,585 $867 23.6%
42 New Jersey 11,337 $69,289,687 $848 23.1%
43 West Virginia 2,059 $11,392,287 $833 28.0%
44 Oregon 7,060 $39,146,312 $820 23.8%
45 Delaware 1,907 $8,616,300 $787 14.7%
46 Vermont 1,005 $1,859,201 $728 21.9%
47 North Dakota 585 $4,089,920 $456 29.7%
48 Maine 2,250 $10,857,187 $430 22.3%
U.S. Total 442,536 $2,733,705,735 $1,261 24.5%
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