Tennessee seniors reported roughly $108 million in scam losses in 2025, with about 3,525 residents aged 60 or older affected and an average loss topping $30,600. The financial hit has landed hardest in the state’s biggest cities, especially Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville, where investment pitches, fake tech support and romance cons are zeroing in on older adults. Families, banks and local agencies say the sheer scale and sophistication of the schemes are making both prevention and recovery feel like a race they are constantly running behind on.
Those losses line up with federal complaint data. The Internet Crime Complaint Center’s elder fraud figures show Tennessee saw a sharp jump in both victims and dollars lost last year, with a 39% increase in the number of victims and a 75% surge in total losses from 2024 to 2025. According to FBI IC3, older adults nationwide filed more than 200,000 complaints last year, and losses among the 60+ group rose sharply.
Investment, crypto and long-form cons are leading the rise
A state breakdown shows investment scams as the single biggest driver of losses. Investment-related complaints in Tennessee jumped from roughly $17.1 million in 2024 to about $51.6 million in 2025, a leap that has fraud investigators wincing. Tech-support, lottery and sweepstakes schemes, and romance scams also increased, as criminals leaned on cryptocurrency channels and high-pressure relationship plays to move money quickly out of reach.
Those crime-type totals and trends are compiled and summarized by the nonprofit Human Cybersecurity Knowledge for Seniors using IC3 data. According to Human Cybersecurity Knowledge for Seniors, attackers are increasingly using long, personalized grooming tactics, sometimes called “pig butchering,” to coax seniors into making large transfers that can drain retirement savings in a single run.
Where the problem is concentrated
Local reporting and state-level numbers both single out Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville as the three Tennessee cities with the highest counts of elder-fraud reports. A recent local story cited the HCSK analysis and warned that “scams in these cities are escalating rapidly,” piling extra stress on family caregivers, bank fraud teams and law enforcement. For details on the local breakdown and the original roundup, see WSMV.
How to report scams in Tennessee
If you or an older loved one has lost money, officials say to start close to home. File a report with local police, then submit an online complaint so federal teams can spot patterns across cases…