Elder fraud is a huge problem nationwide, especially in states such as Florida that have a high concentration of retirees. In 2024 alone, Sunshine State seniors were defrauded of more than $388 million, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which received 11,902 reports from Floridians age 60 and up, second only to California.
IC3 experts, however, believe the financial hit is likely much larger because older Americans might be wary of reporting fraud out of a sense of embarrassment. Some might not be aware that they've been conned, while others don't know how to report scams.
Jortty, a West Palm Beach-based startup, aims to fight elder fraud with AI. Co-founded in 2023 by Bobby Dorlus, a former systems engineer at Twitter, and Julius McGee, who created tech support service Nerd Alert, the company helps seniors safeguard themselves from online scams via early detection.
Dorlus says the idea behind Jortty is simple: "How do I keep my mom safe on the internet?" He describes it as a "tech concierge" that can identify sophisticated scams but also provide everyday tech support to users.
If a Jortty customer receives an email that appears to be suspicious, he or she can forward it to scam@jortty.com. The AI will immediately analyze the message's contents and identify any threats. The platform — available in a free tier with a limited number of scam checks or a premium, $19.99-per-month tier that offers unlimited fraud detection and 24/7 tech support — can also analyze screenshots of text messages.
"Future iterations of Jortty will offer direct integration with iMessage," Dorlus says. "It's a hill to climb, but we see the value that the email service is providing for our customers, and we want to fill that same void on the text-messaging side."