Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate
“Older Americans should not have to worry about falling prey to these scams, and if they do, they need somewhere to turn,” Sen. Gillibrand said.
By Forum Staff
On the heels of the Senate Aging Committee holding a hearing Thursday on “Frauds, Scams, and COVID-19: How Con Artists Have Targeted Older Americans During the Pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), member of the Special Committee on Aging, renewed her support for the bipartisan Senior Financial Empowerment Act. This bill ensures that seniors and their caregivers have access to critical information and resources regarding financial abuse. As part of Gillibrand’s continued efforts to protect seniors from fraud and targeted financial scams, she recently sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to strengthen and standardize senior financial abuse reporting, to help ensure older Americans and their caregivers have access to critical information regarding financial abuse, and to hold financial scammers targeting older Americans accountable.
“In New York State alone, seniors are estimated to lose as much as $1.5 billion a year to financial fraud and abuse. Older Americans should not have to worry about falling prey to these scams, and if they do, they need somewhere to turn,” Gillibrand said. “I am steadfastly committed to helping older Americans respond to, report, and prevent costly financial scams — especially as the holiday season approaches. That is why I renewed my call to pass the bipartisan Senior Financial Empowerment Act, legislation that will help address the scourge of fraud and protect New York’s seniors, and pushed the FTC to hold scammers targeting older Americans accountable.”
Millions of seniors across the country are victims of financial scams and abuse every year. Throughout the pandemic, the range of financial scams targeting older adults skyrocketed as public health and economic anxiety grew, capitalizing on people’s interest in COVID treatments and their need for financial help. In New York State alone, seniors are estimated to lose as much as $1.5 billion per year to financial fraud and abuse. New York is also ranked the fourth-highest in the nation for financial loss and number of victims per state among those aged sixty and older. Gillibrand’s call to action aims to provide tactics and strategies for families to use against the threat of fraud, especially as this holiday season approaches.
The bill, Gillibrand said, would standardize and improve the way senior financial abuse is reported, establish a national hotline that would advise seniors on where and how to report fraud, and provide more resources to combat and prevent financial exploitation of seniors. Specifically, this legislation would help protect seniors from financial fraud by doing the following:
- Centralizing services for consumer education and data on scams and fraud targeting seniors;
- Improving reporting of suspected instances of elder financial abuse;
- Educating certain entities regarding elder financial abuse;
- Creating a grant program to prevent mail, telemarketing, and internet fraud;
- Directing the National Institutes of Health to conduct scientific research on older adults’ increased vulnerability to scams; and
- Designating a National Senior Fraud Awareness Week.
“We need to protect our loved ones against fraud and we can do so by working to improve scam reporting and provide educational resources to older adults and their caregivers,” Gillibrand wrote in her letter to the FTC.
