Central Islip woman who lost $20,000 in retirement savings in an online scam: 'I still cry about it.'

In the weeks before last Christmas, Gussie Redding, of Central Islip, received an emailed invoice purportedly from an anti-malware service provider just days after canceling her subscription.

Alarmed, the 83-year-old retiree called the number listed on the bill to dispute the $391.41 charge. She handed over remote access to her computer to help the company issue a refund. Instead, the fraudsters spoofed fake records to persuade Redding that $40,000 belonging to the cybersecurity business had been mistakenly deposited into her own bank account. 

"They started to threaten me, saying that I was now taking money from them, that I would get in trouble, that I could go to jail," she said.

Frightened, Redding went to her local Chase bank in Hauppauge, withdrew $20,000 in cash and handed off the money to a courier sent by the scammers to her home. 

"I blame myself because I should’ve known better," said Redding, who filed a police report. "I still cry about it."

Redding is among nearly three quarters of Americans who've experienced an online scam or attack, according to the Pew Research Center, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation documenting a record $16.6 billion in losses in 2024. Nearly all Americans see the rise in cybercrime as a national problem, according to Pew, as victims reel from financial pain and psychological distress in the aftermath.

A record

$16.6B

in losses in 2024

Online attacks have grown exponentially more prevalent and sophisticated over the years across the country, including on Long Island, as scammers take advantage of technological advances like artificial intelligence to attack victims, experts say. And while seniors are frequently highlighted as a vulnerable group, experts say that scammers target everyone.

"If you want to see the profile of a potential scam victim, go look in the mirror," said Eva Velasquez, CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a national nonprofit that provides resources to mitigate identity compromise and crime.

If you want to see the profile of a potential scam victim, go look in the mirror.

Eva Velasquez, CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center

Federal, state and local governments have taken steps to educate consumers about risks and raise the alarm about trending scams. New state legislation also has increased support for some victims of financial scams up to $2,500, as the FBI recorded nearly $904 million in victim losses from New York in 2024.

And as the holiday season approaches, experts have warned consumers to be especially wary.

The holiday season is a "prime time for scammers," said Paige Schaffer, CEO of Iris Powered by Generali, an identity protection provider based in Washington, D.C.

Because many people are busy and stressed, and may feel more charitable, they may be easier targets, she said.

Preying on vulnerabilities

Anyone can fall victim to a scammer, experts say, especially if they’re caught at a vulnerable moment.

"Scammers succeed by exploiting universal emotions like fear, urgency, greed, loneliness and trust," Schaffer said. "They’re looking for moments of vulnerability."

77% of Americans say they are targeted

by a scammer on average once a day

More than three-quarters of Americans who responded to a recent survey released by Iris in partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance based in the Netherlands said they are targeted by a scammer on average once a day, and 70% of respondents said they had been scammed in the past year.

On Long Island, the number of scams recorded by the state Division of Consumer Protection has declined since 2023, but reported financial losses — including projected losses through the end of this year — have risen. 

While seniors are often highlighted as a vulnerable population, younger people who spend a lot of time on social media also frequently fall victim to scams, experts said.

Pew Research found that about a quarter of 18-to-29-year-olds say they’ve lost money to online scams or attacks, while just 15% of seniors 65 and older said they’ve lost money that way.

"Gen Z gets scammed the most often," said Al Pascual, CEO and co-founder at Scamnetic, an AI-based scam detection company based in Tampa, Florida.

The amount of money lost tends to be "very low when you’re young and it just gets larger and larger as you get older," he said, noting that younger consumers tend to fall for online purchase scams while older demographics are more likely to fall victim to romance scams.

"The former can involve losses in the hundreds while the latter can lead to losses in the thousands, tens of thousands, or more," he said. 

More vulnerable populations — such as those with lower incomes, and immigrant communities who are less familiar with local legislation — also tend to be at a higher risk for scams, said Clayton LiaBraaten, senior executive industry expert at Truecaller, an AI-powered caller ID company based in Stockholm, Sweden.

"We’re all human and we’re being deluged and lied to, and it’s getting harder and harder to sort the truth from the lies," Velasquez said.

'There’s a huge emotional toll'

Even seemingly minor digital compromises, like social media account takeovers, can wreak economic havoc for victims, making it more difficult to apply for loans and housing, according to an annual report released by the Identity Theft Resource Center on Oct. 28.

Victims surveyed in the report declared losses ranging from small amounts of money up to $1 million or more, with some struggling to pay their bills or finding applications for new credit or loans denied in the aftermath.

A significant number of Americans also suffer from severe emotional distress in the aftermath of a scam, with 25% of survey respondents saying they had considered self-harm, according to the report.

25% of victims say they considered

self-harm in the aftermath of a scam

"There’s a huge emotional toll that this takes on people," Velasquez said. "People feel very vulnerable. They feel like they can’t trust their own judgment. They feel embarrassed, ashamed."

Those emotions often stop people from seeking help or reporting the incident, which "allows these types of crimes to go undetected for longer," Velasquez said.

Statistics about the prevalence of scams and their impact are "nowhere near the ceiling," she added, also because people who lose small dollar amounts are less likely to report it.

For Jan Hart of Huntington, buying a kayak from a Rhode Island bait and tackle business in 2022 was supposed to be a distraction from losing her husband. 

The 74-year-old woman found a website selling the watercraft for a few hundred dollars cheaper than competitors and charged the $2,500 purchase to her credit card. After weeks passed with no word, she emailed the business, which asked Hart to pay an additional $1,000 as an "insurance and custom clearance fee."

That raised red flags for Hart, who called the company only to learn that not only did the business not sell kayaks, but the website she had ordered from was fake.

"It’s unbelievable. You would not believe how incredibly authentic [the website] looked," said Hart, who eventually recovered the funds from her credit card company. 

Redding was not so lucky. Although she reported the theft to her bank and Suffolk County Police, she was told there was nothing to be done. Her money was gone. 

To add insult to injury, the swindlers sent Redding an email days later with a picture of a large screen television with the message "paid in cash."

"It was so hurtful," said Redding, who initially felt too embarrassed to tell her two daughters about the incident.

More sophisticated scams

Scams are not new, but their rising prevalence and sophistication is creeping into everyday life, experts said, from an onslaught of robocallers to messages promoting fake jobs.

"Scams are as old as the hills," said Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of the New York metropolitan area. But scammers are always on the watch "for the most current kind of technology ... to rope in their victims."

Trending scams "change literally by the minute," said Kristin Lewis, chief product officer at Aura, a company based in Boston that offers identity theft protection services.

AI in particular has made it easier for scammers to personalize attacks, write new malware and craft more convincing emails, said Danny Jenkins, CEO and co-founder at cybersecurity company ThreatLocker, based in Orlando, Florida.

"Five years ago, I would be saying, ‘Make sure you’re checking for spelling errors, anything that sounds unusual,' " he said. "Today, that’s not really a thing because AI has just changed the world so that scammers can now write emails in perfect English."

AI is also helping scammers get better at doing their homework, experts said, using information freely available about someone on the internet or through data breaches to find convincing details to snare their victims.

"You can’t trust a phone conversation anymore. You can’t trust a video conversation," Pascual said, highlighting the rise of deepfakes among scammers. "We need to be vigilant in everything, across every channel."

That includes calls from utility companies and government authorities, like PSEG or the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office, both of which have warned about scammers posing as their agencies. Even local nonprofits, such as the Women’s Diversity Network on Long Island, have raised the alarm about scammers seeking donations in their groups’ names.

"Some of the key scams that we see are impostor scams that involve criminals posing as trusted authorities," Schaffer said. "Their goal is to create panic and urgency so the victim will act before thinking."

The most reported scam last year involved online purchases, where a customer buys an item they never receive or that was marketed fraudulently, according to the Better Business Bureau’s 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report.

Ken Sternfeld, 71, of Uniondale, was nearly lured into a similar type of scam last year after receiving an email with an invoice for an Apple computer he never bought.

His credit card was charged, prompting Sternfeld to immediately contact Apple's customer service, which he said refunded the $1,300.

"Elderly people are the target of everyone who wants to take us to the cleaners," he said.

Sternfeld and Hart are in the minority. Most scam victims don’t see the lost funds again, experts said.

How to protect yourself

It’s cheap and easy for scammers to push out emails, texts and calls en masse, experts said.

They might keep the message vague, saying for example, that they’re calling from the intended victim’s bank, Velasquez said. But, did they name the bank, or did they say they’re calling from "your bank?"

If someone reaches out with a message intended to create a sense of urgency, that’s a red flag, experts said. Take a beat and verify the shared information.

If a scammer calls pretending to be a bank or utility company for example, hang up and call back using the number available on your bill, credit card or statement, or at their official website.

It’s also important to limit sharing personal information online, experts said.

"I think if most people did a Google search of themselves, they would be shocked at how much of their personal information is actually available," Lewis said.

It’s imperative as well to take physical measures to avoid potential identity theft and financial exploitation, according to a presentation from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Huntington on Oct. 27.

That includes consistently taking your mail out of your mailbox and shredding personal records before dumping them.

If you are scammed, file a police report, experts said.

Some companies, like Aura, offer insurance policies that cover identity theft and fraud, Lewis said.

And finally, come to terms with the loss and realize you’re not alone, experts said.

"That’s an important thing to say out loud because there’s a lot of self-doubt and shame and guilt when you’re a scam victim," Pascual said.