BOSTON —

There's been an uptick in reports of elderly Bay Staters being scammed into "devastating financial losses" by fraudsters who send couriers to collect cash or gold bars from victims who think they're either helping a family member or settling a surprise debt with the government, the FBI's Boston Division said.

Between 2023 and May 2025, the local branch of the FBI documented 103 instances of a courier being used to pick up cash or gold bars as part of a fraud scheme, with financial losses totaling more than $26 million. Most of the victims, 59 in total, lived in Massachusetts and collectively lost $18.6 million, the FBI said. Nearly all (98%) of the losses were reported by people older than 60 years, officials said.

The FBI said in an alert that many of the schemes take the form

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