Collins, Sinema Introduce Resolution Designating Today "National Senior Fraud Awareness Day"
Press Release
U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), members of the Aging Committee, introduced a bipartisan resolution designating today, May 13th, "National Senior Fraud Awareness Day." The resolution was co-sponsored by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Mike Braun (R-IN).
"Combatting fraud has long been one of my top priorities. The proliferation of scams exploiting people's anxiety surrounding COVID-19 underscores the ruthlessness of these criminals," said Senator Collins. "We have made substantial progress to protect seniors, and we must not relent in our efforts to stop con artists. By raising awareness, our resolution will help prevent seniors from becoming victims of fraud."
"Raising fraud awareness helps protect Arizona seniors from predatory scams. We'll continue holding criminals accountable and cracking down on illegal scams because Arizona seniors earned their benefits and their retirement over lifetimes of hard work," said Senator Sinema.
The Senators' resolution raises awareness about the increasing number of fraudulent schemes targeting seniors, encourages the implementation of policies to prevent those schemes and protect seniors, and honors the individuals and organizations who work tirelessly to counteract scams.
Each year, seniors are robbed of nearly $3 billion through an ever growing array of scams, ranging from Social Security impersonation scams to sweepstakes scams to grandparents' scams. Increasingly, scammers are exploiting the ongoing coronavirus crisis to prey on seniors through economic impact payment scams, vaccine scams, test kit scams, contact tracing scams, and work-from-home scams.
Over the past seven years, the Aging Committee has held 25 hearings to raise public awareness about elder fraud and abuse and to examine efforts to protect older Americans. The Aging Committee also maintains a toll-free Fraud Hotline (1-855-303-9470), which serves as a resource for seniors and others affected by scams. Since the Fraud Hotline's inception in 2013, more than 10,000 individuals from all 50 States have contacted the hotline to report a possible scam.
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