By Nelson A. King
New York Attorney General,
Letitia James on Tuesday,
June 1 continued her efforts
to protect senior citizens in
New York against fraud.
James co-led a bipartisan
coalition of 47 attorneys general
in sending a letter to
congressional leaders, urging
them to pass the Fraud and
Scam Reduction Act.
The act — comprising the
Stop Senior Scam Act and
Seniors Fraud Prevention Act
of 2021 — will assist stakeholders
in training employees
to recognize the warning
signs of elder fraud and to
prevent irreversible damage to
elderly victims, James said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic
has sadly opened up senior
citizens to a new array of
fraudulent schemes to steal
their money, their identities,
and, very often, the freedoms
they enjoy,” she said. “It is
vital that we make every effort
to protect the elderly against
fraud and irreversible harm,
which is why our bipartisan
coalition is calling on Congress
to immediately pass the
Fraud and Scam Reduction
Act.
“We must protect the elderly
and ensure we minimize
the opportunities for them to
become victims in the future,”
James added.
She said the bipartisan legislation
Caribbean L 34 ife, JUNE 11-17, 2021
will provide innovative
ways to combat the financial
exploitation of senior citizens,
like establishing the Senior
Scams Prevention Advisory
Group that will be accountable
to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC).
James said the group will
collect data generated by
stakeholders — such as retailers,
financial services, and
wire-transfer companies —
to help educate employees on
how to identify and prevent
scams that target seniors.
She said the group will
develop training and educational
materials for those
employees best suited to identify
the warning signs of elder
fraud.
The act also establishes the
Office for the Prevention of
Fraud Targeting Seniors —
housed in the Bureau of Consumer
Protection of the FTC,
the New York Attorney General
said.
She said the office will complement
the efforts of the Senior
Scams Prevention Advisory
Group by: Monitoring
emerging scams that target
seniors through the internet,
mail, robocalls, telemarketing
and television;
disseminating information
on common fraud schemes;
and sharing information on
how to report suspected senior
fraud scams to a national
fraud hotline and the FTC’s
Consumer Sentinel Network.
James said the FTC will also
work with the US Department
of Justice to log and track
complaints from victims, and
relay the information to the
appropriate law enforcement
agencies.
Joining Attorney General
James in sending Tuesday’s
letter to Congress were the
attorneys general from Alaska,
Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Nebraska, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, North Carolina, North
Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma,
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James. Associated
Press / Richard Drew
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington,
Wisconsin, Wyoming, the District
of Columbia, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands and
Puerto Rico.
James battles fraud against seniors
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