Senior Scam Prevention and Fraud Resources in District of Columbia
District of Columbia seniors reported $10 million in elder fraud losses to the FBI in 2025, with 382 victims aged 60 and older. This page provides District of Columbia-specific scam prevention resources, official reporting contacts, and five years of FBI elder fraud data for the state.
Already been scammed? Read our First 24 Hours Emergency Guide for critical steps to take immediately.
I. Overview: Senior Population and Key Neighborhoods
As of 2024, the District of Columbia has a population of approximately 680,000, with around 88,000 residents aged 65 and older , making up about 13% of the total population. While D.C. has a younger median age overall, its senior population is steadily growing, especially in neighborhoods east of the river and in Northwest.
D.C. seniors face a shifting fraud landscape. In 2025, losses totaled $10 million with 382 victims. The dominant story: investment scams surged 637% from $776K to $5.7 million, now accounting for 57% of all losses. Most other categories saw significant declines, including government impersonation (-55%) and romance scams (-94%). The city’s digital divide and socio-economic disparities remain key risk factors.
The neighborhoods where scam activity is most frequently reported among older adults include:
- Ward 3 (Upper Northwest – Tenleytown, Chevy Chase)
- Ward 7 (East of the Anacostia River – Deanwood, Benning Ridge)
- Ward 5 (Brookland, Fort Totten)
II. 2025 Victim Report: How Scammers Targeted D.C.’s Seniors
In 2025, District of Columbia had 382 victims aged 60+ who reported losses totaling $10,077,243 — up 43% in victims but down 96% in losses compared to 2024 (267 victims / $251M). The 2024 total was heavily influenced by a single large tech support fraud case.
Loss by Crime Type
| Crime Type | 2025 Loss | 2024 Loss | Change |
| Investment | $5,717,570 | $776,156 | +637% |
| Tech Support | $1,293,437 | $245,293,375 | -99% |
| Romance | $27,119 | $445,149 | -94% |
| Lottery/Sweepstakes | $2,800 | $77,750 | -96% |
| Extortion | $0 | $33,550 | -100% |
| Government Impersonation | $522,287 | $1,161,895 | -55% |
Elder Fraud Loss Trajectory — District of Columbia
5-Year Elder Fraud Trend — District of Columbia (2021—2025)
| Year | Victims (60+) | Total Loss | YoY Change | Nat’l Rank |
| 2021 | 305 | $6,937,668 | — | #35 |
| 2022 | 195 | $4,399,340 | -37% | #50 |
| 2023 | 185 | $10,645,609 | +142% | #41 |
| 2024 | 267 | $251,454,544 | +2262% | #5 |
| 2025 | 382 | $10,077,243 | -96% | #48 |
| 5-Year Total | 1,334 | $283,514,404 | +45% (2021—2025) | — |
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Reports, 2021—2025. Covers victims aged 60 and older. National rank is by total dollar loss among 52 states/territories. National totals: $1.7B (2021), $3.1B (2022), $3.4B (2023), $4.9B (2024), $7.7B (2025) — $20.8 billion stolen from American seniors over five years.
Top Crime Types Targeting District of Columbia Seniors (2025 vs. 5-Year)
| Crime Type | 2025 Victims | 2025 Loss | 5-Year Total | Growth (2021—25) |
| Investment | 15 | $5,717,570 | $9,050,041 | +2,300% |
| BEC | 23 | $1,574,036 | $12,104,315 | -61% |
| Tech Support | 47 | $1,293,437 | $252,393,821 | +381% |
| Gov. Impersonation | 25 | $522,287 | $2,061,365 | +40% |
| Personal Data Breach | 28 | $312,498 | $962,119 | -11% |
| Romance | 7 | $27,119 | $1,672,108 | -92% |
Top 6 crime types by 2025 losses. Growth calculated from 2021 to 2025. For national crime type trends, see our Crime Type Migration Analysis.
What the data reveals: The District of Columbia’s elder fraud losses totaled $10 million in 2025, with 382 seniors victimized. The data shows a dramatic shift in fraud composition: investment scams surged 637% from $776K to $5.7 million, becoming the overwhelming majority of losses. Meanwhile, most other categories declined sharply — government impersonation fell 55%, and romance scams dropped 94%. This suggests scammers have concentrated on a single high-value fraud type. Across the District, that comes to roughly one senior victim for every 1,838 District of Columbia residents.
National context: D.C. ranks #29 in per-capita victim rate (54.40 per 100,000), near the national midpoint. As an entirely urban jurisdiction with high digital connectivity, D.C.’s fraud patterns differ from most states — the near-total concentration of losses in investment scams (57%) is one of the most lopsided profiles in the country. The sharp declines across multiple other categories are unusual and may reflect successful targeted enforcement.
For the full national picture, including how the District of Columbia compares to every other state, visit our national hub page with interactive data and rankings.
III. Emergency and Official Contacts
Local Law Enforcement – Elder Fraud and Financial Crimes
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) – Financial and Cyber Crimes Unit
- Phone (non-emergency): (202) 727-9099
- Main Website: mpdc.dc.gov
- Direct unit link: mpdc.dc.gov/page/identity-theft-and-fraud-reporting-procedure
- Handles financial scams, identity theft, and crimes against seniors.
FBI and Federal Reporting
FBI Washington Field Office
- Phone: (202) 278-2000
- Website: www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- Website: www.ic3.gov
- For reporting phishing, romance scams, investment fraud, and online threats.
DC Attorney General – Consumer Protection
Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia – Consumer Protection
- Consumer Hotline: (202) 442-9828
- Website: oag.dc.gov
- Assists with fraud complaints, elder financial abuse, and scam resolution support.
Senior Services and Medicare Fraud Support
DC Adult Protective Services (APS)
- 24/7 Hotline: (202) 541-3950
- Website: dacl.dc.gov/service/adult-protective-services-0
- Investigates abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults aged 18+.
DC Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) – Led by Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE)
- Helpline: (202) 434-2099
- Website: smpresource.org/find-help-in-your-state/
- Educates and assists with Medicare fraud, billing scams, and medical identity theft.
DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL)
- Information Line: (202) 724-5626
- Website: dacl.dc.gov
- Offers caregiver support, legal services, elder rights advocacy, and financial safety education.
Empower, Educate, and Report
- Seniors in D.C. lose millions of dollars every year to avoidable scams.
- Stay alert for warning signs like pressure to act quickly, requests for personal info, or unexpected messages from “officials.”
- Visit our Education Center to learn how scams work, how to respond, and how to help others.
- If something feels off, don’t respond , report it. You’re not alone. Help is available.
Recent District of Columbia scam news
Recent news coverage of scams affecting District of Columbia seniors, updated from our alerts desk. Each item links to the original outlet; victims and defendants are kept anonymous.
Washington, D.C. Lawmaker, 88, Scammed in Her Home
People posing as a cleaning crew charged an 88-year-old D.C. lawmaker nearly $4,400 for work never done.
Read at Political Wire →The 'phantom hacker' scam: how a months-long con convinces victims to hand cash or gold to a courier
Federal prosecutors describe a growing 'phantom hacker' scheme in which a caller falsely claims a victim's bank or investment account has been compromised, then, days or weeks later, someone posing as a government official tells the victim their money needs to be moved to a 'safe' government account to protect it. After building trust over an extended period, the scammers convince victims to withdraw cash or buy gold and hand it to someone who arrives in person posing as a government agent, sometimes claiming to be a U.S. Attorney or other official. In one related Arizona case, a victim transferred more than $400,000 in assets before realizing it was a scam. No real government agency or bank will ever ask you to withdraw money, buy gold, or hand valuables to a courier to 'protect' them, so if you get a call like this, slow down, hang up, and verify by contacting the agency or bank directly using a number you look up yourself.
Read at U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona →House committee report calls for an 'all-of-ecosystem' approach to fighting scams, including elder fraud
A U.S. House Financial Services Committee report is calling for a coordinated national strategy against fraud and scams, arguing that stopping them requires cooperation across banks, technology platforms, telecommunications carriers, and law enforcement, not just the moment a payment happens. The report cites FTC data showing more than 3 million fraud reports and $15.9 billion in reported losses in 2025, and specifically flags elder exploitation among the scam types it wants better addressed alongside impostor schemes, phishing, and crypto fraud. It recommends stronger consumer education, deliberate friction to slow suspicious transactions, more cross-industry data sharing, and wider use of AI-powered fraud-detection tools, and it launched a new public resource site explaining common scam red flags in plain language. The American Bankers Association welcomed the report's call for a coordinated approach that brings platforms, carriers, and financial institutions into the effort together.
Read at JD Supra →Senate Aging Committee presses nine major AI companies for safeguards protecting older users
The Senate Special Committee on Aging sent letters to nine major AI companies asking what safeguards their AI chatbot 'companion' products have for older adults, people with disabilities, and people in crisis, including how the products are tested, how harms are tracked, and whether independent researchers can access data to study the effects on older users. Companies have until August 31, 2026 to respond. The letters follow a bipartisan committee hearing, held by the committee's Republican chairman together with its Democratic ranking member and another Democratic senator, examining how AI has been used in scams against seniors; at that hearing the committee released a new report citing the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center for almost $21 billion in cybercrime losses in 2025, with $893 million tied to AI-enabled scams. The report's recommendations include a centralized federal scam-reporting portal that would automatically route complaints to the right agency, expanded law enforcement training and cryptocurrency-tracing tools, and new protections against unauthorized AI-generated voice and image replicas. The committee framed it directly: protecting older Americans from AI-enabled fraud and expanding their access to helpful AI tools 'are not competing priorities; they are two sides of the same obligation.'
Read at McKnight's Senior Living →Expert: AI voice cloning is making grandparent and impersonation scams more convincing
At a fraud-prevention session, a consumer-protection expert explained how AI is raising the stakes on scams that already target seniors: fraudsters can pull audio from social media to clone a family member's voice for a fake emergency call, and use AI to alter faces and voices on video calls to look and sound legitimate. He said government agencies never initiate contact by phone, so any call claiming to be the IRS, Social Security, or the FBI is a scam, and that any request to pay through a cryptocurrency ATM is always a scammer. Other advice: legitimate tech companies do not send pop-up warnings with a phone number to call, so restart your computer instead of clicking a link or handing over remote access; use unique passwords and multi-factor authentication; and place a security freeze on your credit report. According to FTC data cited at the session, Americans reported losing a record $15.9 billion to fraud and scams in 2025, an all-ages figure that is separate from the FBI's own reporting on losses to adults 60 and older.
Read at HousingWire →Senate Aging Committee hears bankers' testimony on AI-enabled fraud targeting seniors
The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on July 29, 2026 on AI-generated fraud targeting older Americans. A witness from the American Bankers Association testified that artificial intelligence is amplifying fraud schemes rather than creating new ones, saying a criminal can now create a convincing fake voice, video, photo, text message, ad, or online persona with little skill or cost. He recommended that Congress create a National Office for Scam and Fraud Prevention to provide accountable national leadership, along with strengthening telecommunications safeguards, improving how fraud information is shared to help recover stolen funds, and modernizing identity and authentication systems. He also noted that banks already use AI, advanced analytics, employee training, and consumer education to help spot suspicious activity. The hearing is a reminder that as scams become more convincing, the same basic defense still works: slow down and verify independently before sending money.
Read at ABA Banking Journal →IV. Learn More: District of Columbia Scam Prevention Guides
Explore District of Columbia-specific guides on the most common scams targeting seniors in your state:
- Tech Support Scams in District of Columbia — Learn to recognize fake pop-ups, phone calls, and remote access schemes.
- Investment Scams in District of Columbia — Protect your retirement savings from fraudulent advisors and crypto scams.
- Romance Scams in District of Columbia — Spot the warning signs of fake online relationships designed to steal money.
- Government Impersonation Scams in District of Columbia — Know what real government agencies will never ask you to do.
- How to Report Scams in District of Columbia — Step-by-step guide to reporting fraud and starting recovery.
For national-level data on each scam type, see our Investment, Tech Support, Romance, and Government Impersonation national guides.
See how District of Columbia compares. Curious where District of Columbia ranks in the national picture? Stolen Trust, our 2026 special study, ranks every state and territory using five years of FBI data and lays out one practical plan to fix elder fraud.