Scammers Are Preying on Oregon Seniors—Here’s What They’re Falling For
Oregon seniors have lost over $5 million to online scams in 2025 alone, with fake business and government calls leading the way, according to the FTC.
Oregon senior citizens have lost more than $5 million this year alone to con artists scamming internet users, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
An interpretation of the statistics indicates that 28.3% of state residents aged between aged between 60 to 69 have fallen victim to this type of crime, amounting to an individual loss of $480.
Be Aware of Government and Business Impostors
The FTC reveals that the most prevalent scammers are government and business impostors, as well as online shopping cons, netting a total of $5,271,008 to date in 2025.
FTC data analyzed by the cryptocurrency exchange, ChicksX, shows that of the 60,379 reports by seniors in the 60 to 69 category, 29% resulted in a financial loss.
The total sum stolen exceeded $354.9 million nationwide, equating to a loss of $597 per report. The loss to Oregon seniors was 19.5%, from a total of 874 reports.
Scammers Perceive the Elderly As More Gullible
Business impostors are the most prevalent scam in the state with scammers targeting the elderly who are perceived as more gullible to official-sounding calls and emails.
The aged are also regarded as becoming pressured quickly if they believe the correspondence is from a reputable organization.
By category this is how older Oregonians have been scammed this year – 250 business impostors, 156 government impostors, 92 online shopping scams, 43 prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries, and 37 tech support scams.
The per consumer average nationally is even worse in the 70 to 79 age group, with 45,076 fraud reports at $994 per scam. There were 706 reports from this age group in Oregon at a loss per person of $789.
ChicksX offers three tips to protect seniors from falling victim to fraudsters: view too good to be true deals with skepticism, never share personal information over the phone and use call-blocking apps to avoid scam calls, allow a trusted family member to check the authenticity of a caller.