Key Takeaways

The FTC’s 2024 Consumer Sentinel data included 1,135,291 identity theft reports, and 86% of those reports included age information.
FTC data has repeatedly shown that younger adults tend to report fraud losses more often, while older adults tend to report much larger median losses when they do lose money.
In the FTC’s 2025 report to Congress, adults 80 and older had a median reported fraud loss exceeding $1,600 in 2024.
FTC reporting says aggregate fraud losses reported by adults 60 and over rose about fourfold from 2020 to 2024, from roughly $600 million to about $2.4 billion.
Pew found that roughly three-quarters of adults under 30, ages 30–49, and ages 50–64 say they have experienced an online scam or attack, compared with 66% of adults 65 and older.
The age pattern is not “young people are targeted” or “older people are targeted.” The stronger conclusion is that different age groups experience different kinds of risk and different levels of financial harm. This is a synthesis of FTC and Pew findings.

CORE STATISTICS

1,135,291 identity theft reports were included in FTC’s 2024 Consumer Sentinel data.
86% of those identity theft reports included consumer age information.
In FTC’s 2024 data, adults 60 and older reported nearly $2.4 billion in fraud losses.
Adults 80 and older had median reported fraud losses above $1,600 in 2024.
In FTC’s prior 2023 report, adults 80 and older had a median fraud loss of $1,450, while adults in their 70s had a median loss of $804.
Pew found about 66% of adults 65 and older say they have ever experienced an online scam or attack, compared with about three-quarters of adults under 30, 30–49, and 50–64.
FTC reporting says older adults were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a fraud loss using a Bitcoin ATM in the first half of 2024.
FTC says losses of $10,000 and over in certain business and government imposter scams were more than twice as likely to be reported by older adults in 2024, and losses over $100,000 were three times as likely to be reported by older adults.

TRENDS & INSIGHTS

The most important age-related pattern is that frequency and severity are not the same thing. Younger adults often report scams and fraud exposure at higher rates, but older adults are much more likely to report severe financial harm when fraud works. FTC and Pew data fit that pattern well.

That matters for identity theft because the page is not just about raw case counts. It is about how identity misuse affects people at different life stages. A younger adult may be more likely to report certain scam or fraud encounters, while an older adult may face larger consequences because of larger savings balances, retirement assets, or higher-value financial activity. This is an inference grounded in the FTC’s loss data and Pew’s age comparisons.

Another important trend is that age-based risk now overlaps with digital behavior. Pew’s 2025 survey suggests scam exposure is widespread across all adult age groups, while FTC data shows older adults are disproportionately represented in very large-loss cases. That means age changes the shape of the risk more than whether risk exists at all.

REAL-WORLD CONTEXT

For consumers, “identity theft by age” should not be read as a simple leaderboard. It is better understood as a pattern: younger adults may encounter more attempted fraud and online attacks, while older adults often experience worse financial outcomes when criminals succeed. That is why both exposure data and loss data matter.

For adults 45–75, this means identity theft prevention is not just about avoiding a stolen identity in the abstract. It is also about reducing the chance that a stolen credential, exposed record, or fake fraud alert turns into a large financial loss. This is a reasoned conclusion based on the FTC’s older-adult loss findings and the broader scam patterns across age groups.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK

Younger adults for higher exposure frequency to scams and online attacks.
Older adults for higher median and aggregate financial losses when fraud succeeds.
Adults over 60 in high-dollar impersonation and Bitcoin ATM scams.
Consumers of any age whose credentials are exposed or who respond to phishing-style account alerts. This is an inference supported by the FTC’s age-loss data and the broader overlap between scams and identity misuse.

QUICK CHECKLIST (what this means)

Identity and fraud risk exists across every age group.
Younger adults may report fraud loss more often.
Older adults often experience larger losses when fraud works.
Very large losses are disproportionately concentrated among older adults.
Age changes the size and type of risk, not whether the risk exists. This is an analytical conclusion from the cited evidence.

HOW TO STAY PROTECTED

Use unique passwords and enable MFA on email, bank, and primary online accounts. That advice fits the account-access risks that cut across age groups.
Be cautious with fraud alerts, impersonation messages, and urgent account notices, especially if money movement is involved. FTC age-based scam findings support this.
Older adults should be especially cautious with high-dollar transfer requests, crypto-related directions, and government or business impersonation claims.
Families should talk openly across generations about current scam tactics, because exposure is broad even when financial outcomes differ by age.

CITABLE STATEMENTS

The FTC’s 2024 Consumer Sentinel data included 1,135,291 identity theft reports, and 86% included age information.
Adults 80 and older had a median reported fraud loss exceeding $1,600 in 2024.
FTC reporting says aggregate losses reported by adults 60 and over rose from about $600 million in 2020 to about $2.4 billion in 2024.
Pew found about 66% of adults 65 and older say they have experienced an online scam or attack, compared with about three-quarters of younger age groups.
In 2024, older adults were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a fraud loss using a Bitcoin ATM.

SOURCES

FTC, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024.
FTC, Protecting Older Consumers 2024–2025.
FTC, FTC Issues Annual Report to Congress on Agency’s Actions to Protect Older Adults (2025).
Pew Research Center, Online Scams and Attacks in America Today.
FTC Data Spotlight on older-adult fraud losses and Bitcoin ATM scams.

Identity Theft by Age / Report