ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received more than 750 complaints about scams directed towards the elderly in New Mexico in 2023. The issue is detailed in the FBI’s latest report on elder fraud.
“These are our grandparents. These are people that have been pillars of our community, who have done great things, and now are targets,” Raul Bujanda, the special agent in charge of the Albuquerque FBI, tells KRQE.
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New Mexicans above the age of 60 reported losing $17,784,632 last year. And that only includes reports made to the FBI. It’s likely that seniors lost even more but never reported.
While New Mexico wasn’t the state that saw the most losses to elder fraud, Bujanda says scams don’t stop at state lines. In fact, it’s likely that the same scammers target individuals across the nation.
“It’s not just happening to us here in New Mexico. It’s happening everywhere,” Bujanda says. “It’s kind of centered on romance scams, tech support . . . people pretending to be a call center.”