The number of elderly women registered as victims of fraud through so-called social manipulation has increased sharply in recent years. This crime type, which includes fake staff from banks and insurance companies, fictitious police investigations, investment fraud, and romance scams, has become one of the fastest-growing forms of crime in Sweden.
According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention’s (Brå) report Victims in Crime Reports 2025, 46,306 people were registered as victims of fraud via social manipulation last year. This is an increase of 270 percent compared to 2019, when the figure stood at 12,513.
Women and girls accounted for 61 percent of registered victims in 2025, while men and boys made up 39 percent.
READ ALSO: Here is the gang that scammed pensioners out of their savings
The largest increase is seen among women over 65. The number of registered victims rose from 356 to 1,393 per 100,000 inhabitants between 2019 and 2025. This corresponds to an increase of about 291 percent.
The developments among men over 65 have also been dramatic. The number of registered victims increased from 249 to 822 per 100,000 inhabitants during the same period, which equates to an increase of around 230 percent.
Brå notes that there is a clear age pattern. The higher the age, the more common it is to be registered as a victim of social manipulation fraud. At the same time, women are more affected than men in most adult age groups, with the difference being especially clear among the elderly.
Increase Also Seen in Other Fraud Crimes
This trend is seen not only in social manipulation, where fraudsters pretend to call from, for example, a bank or authorities. In the statistics for all fraud crimes, women over 65 are also the group that has seen the greatest increase.
READ ALSO: Multicultural gang scammed pensioners out of hundreds of thousands of kronor
According to Brå, the number of female victims in this age group has increased by 112 percent since 2019. Per 100,000 inhabitants, the figure rose from 1,137 to 2,250 during the period.
In total, 133,407 people were registered as victims of fraud crimes during 2025. This is a decrease of 4 percent compared to the previous year, but still 10 percent higher than in 2019.
From the Street to Digital
The figures point to a clear change in criminality. While several traditional crime types have declined according to Brå in recent years, digital fraud continues to rise.
READ ALSO: The Rinkeby gangster “The Swede” scammed pensioners out of their savings – protected by Aftonbladet
Fraud via social manipulation relies on the perpetrator creating trust and convincing the victim to themselves make a payment or hand over sensitive information. In contrast to many older types of fraud, no physical meetings or advanced technology are needed—often a phone call, a text, or an online message is enough for the gangs.
READ ALSO: REVEALED: Yusuf Rahimi plundered pensioners – sentenced to prison but is now employed in elderly care again
As a part of preventive work, the Swedish Police Authority has distributed information about how individuals can protect themselves from attempted fraud.
