10/08/2026

N. WISCONSIN - Artificial intelligence is making scams harder to detect, and Wisconsin advocates are warning the financial toll is mounting – especially for older Wisconsinites.

Fraud complaints from people 60 and older spiked nearly 60 percent last year, with reported losses topping seven-point-seven-billion dollars, according to F-B-I data. The bureau shows impersonation scams in particular are surging. Nancy Stencil with the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans says A-I can allow an imposter to sound just like a loved one – or appear to be a legitimate authority figure.

                0:11  "Those I think are the ones that are probably the most scary because if I'm talking to somebody on the phone and it sounds exactly like my daughter, why would I have any reason to think otherwise?"

From January 2025 through July of this year, the F-B-I received nearly 61-thousand complaints involving impersonation scams, with more than one-point-six-billion dollars in reported losses. Senior advocates are calling on lawmakers to hold online platforms accountable for letting scams run rampant on their sites.