Artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating elder‑fraud schemes across the United States, and it specifically targets older Americans who own a large share of household wealth.

The Housing for Older Persons Act, a federal law, requires that at least 80 % of the occupied units in a 55+ community be lived in by someone who is 55 years old or older.

Scammers can combine property records, people‑search listings and community information to build convincing profiles of new retirement‑community residents.

Criminologists at Florida State University found that residents of a large Florida retirement community were targeted almost immediately after moving in, and the scam attempts continued repeatedly.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded more than 201,000 fraud complaints from Americans aged 60 and older in 2025, amounting to over $7.7 billion in reported losses.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that the true financial impact on older adults could be as high as $81.5 billion when unreported cases are taken into account.

Because data‑broker profiles often list relatives and previous addresses, a fraudster can use the information to contact a family member, pretend to be the homeowner’s HOA, and request a payment that sounds legitimate.

To lower the risk, residents should ask their HOA whether they can opt out of community directories, remove phone numbers, email addresses and photos, search their own name and new address online, and submit removal requests to people‑search sites or use a data‑removal service.