[Senate Hearing 119-150]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 119-150
PROTECTING FLORIDA'S SENIORS:
FIGHTING FRAUD AND
FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
DORAL, FL
__________
AUGUST 7, 2025
__________
Serial No. 119-12
Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
61-468 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
RICK SCOTT, Florida, Chairman
DAVE McCORMICK, Pennsylvania KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York
JIM JUSTICE, West Virginia ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts
TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama MARK KELLY, Arizona
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia
ASHLEY MOODY, Florida ANDY KIM, New Jersey
JON HUSTED, Ohio ANGELA ALSOBROOKS, Maryland
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McKinley Lewis, Majority Staff Director
Claire Descamps, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Opening Statement of Senator Rick Scott, Chairman................ 1
PANEL OF WITNESSES
Hon. Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Sheriff, Miami-Dade County, Doral,
Florida........................................................ 4
Jeff Johnson, State Director, AARP Florida, St. Petersburg,
Florida........................................................ 10
Hon. Kathy Kraninger, President & CEO, Florida Bankers
Association, Tallahassee, Florida.............................. 12
Brandy Bauer, Joint Center Director for the State Health
Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Technical Assistance Center
Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) National Resource Center,
Waterloo, Iowa................................................. 14
APPENDIX
Prepared Witness Statements
Hon. Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Sheriff, Miami-Dade County, Doral,
Florida........................................................ 32
Jeff Johnson, State Director, AARP Florida, St. Petersburg,
Florida........................................................ 34
Hon. Kathy Kraninger, President & CEO, Florida Bankers
Association, Tallahassee, Florida.............................. 41
Brandy Bauer, Joint Center Director for the State Health
Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Technical Assistance Center
Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) National Resource Center,
Waterloo, Iowa................................................. 45
PROTECTING FLORIDA'S SENIORS:
FIGHTING FRAUD AND
FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
----------
Thursday, August 7, 2025
U.S. Senate
Special Committee on Aging
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in
Doral, Florida, Hon. Rick Scott, Chairman of the Committee,
presiding.
Present: Senator Scott
OPENING STATEMENT OF
SENATOR RICK SCOTT, CHAIRMAN
Chairman Scott. The U.S. Senate Special Committee hearing
on Aging will now come to order. Thank you all for being here
today. It is wonderful to be back home in Florida as we
continue doing the work of this Committee.
The way this Senate job works is you don't want to miss any
votes, so we are up there 40 to 42 weeks a year, and so it is a
little harder than my time as Governor to get around the state,
but it is nice to be here.
I want to have a big thank-you to the Miami-Dade County
Sheriff's Department and the sheriff for hosting us here today.
I would like to recognize there are a lot of local leaders
here and a lot of friends that I have had the opportunity to
create relationships with over the last 15 years since I
started running for Governor who are joining us today for this
very important discussion.
One of the biggest issues I hear about from Floridians and
seniors around the country is the growing threat of scams,
fraud, and financial exploitation. Whether it is a phone call
from someone posing as a grandchild in trouble, a suspicious
investment scheme delivered through the mail, or an email from
a government imposter threatening jail time, these criminals
are targeting our seniors with increasing sophistication, and I
think it has impacted almost every family.
Our seniors are often especially vulnerable to this kind of
fraud. Sadly, for many older Americans, falling victim to a
scam doesn't just mean losing money, it can also mean losing
peace of mind, trust in others, and confidence in themselves on
navigating daily life.
As this Committee has heard many times before, this is a
multi-billion-dollar-a-year problem. In 2024, Americans over 60
years of age lost a staggering $4.8 billion to scams, and that
is scams that were reported. Many seniors don't report being
scammed out of fear, shame, or the simple belief that nothing
can or will be done, which is too bad that people believe that
way. Everybody I know in law enforcement around the country,
they would like to help. Many also aren't sure where or how to
go about reporting what happened.
Unfortunately, the status quo for too long in Washington
has been to hold hearings, issue reports, and move on to the
next issue without ever taking meaningful steps to fix the
problem. We all know that is unacceptable, and we cannot let
that happen here, especially when our parents, our
grandparents, our neighbors, our friends are being actively
targeted by criminals every day. Many seniors live on fixed
incomes, and this kind of exploitation can be the difference
between comfortable retirement filled with connection and
security and financially struggling through their golden years
with feelings of distrust and isolation.
That is why we are focused on combating fraud and scams at
every level. We need to highlight and discuss how we can
effectively empower seniors, families, and our communities to
safeguard themselves and our aging friends and neighbors
against these scam artists, and then we must act to fight back
and protect seniors. Many of these actions are highlighted in
our 2025 Fraud Report, which I think you can pick up right out
as you walk in.
I am grateful to my colleagues on this Committee for
working with me to put this report together. By the way, I have
a great team led by McKinley on the Committee, and they do a
great job trying to help seniors. The report, which is also
available online at Aging.Senate.gov/scam, includes helpful
information meant to prevent fraud and provide resources for
our seniors to report scams when they happen.
It is time we have to stop playing defense and start going
on the offense. We must support our law enforcement at every
level, educate the public, and get innovative on how we protect
vulnerable Americans. That is why we are right here in the
great State of Florida for today's hearing. Our state is home
to more than four million seniors. It is a hotspot for retirees
and, unfortunately, scam activity. That is why I made it a
priority to work with local, state, and federal law
enforcement, community groups, and our state leaders to fight
fraud head on.
We also need to take a hard look at where many of these
scams are coming from, and this can't just be done locally. We
have got to do this at the federal level also. Increasingly, we
are seeing coordinated transnational fraud operations,
especially from Communist China and other foreign adversaries,
and let's not forget, they are adversaries. All right?
Communist China is an adversary. If you buy something from
Communist China, you are helping an adversary. They are talking
to our seniors right here at home.
These aren't isolated incidents. They are large-scale
operations run from overseas call centers, often with the
knowledge or even the protection of regimes like the Chinese
Communist Party. These groups use stolen data, AI technology,
and cryptocurrency to exploit vulnerable Americans. This is
more than just a consumer protection issue. It is a national
security concern. We need to treat it like one and hold these
foreign actors accountable for enabling criminal activity that
harms American seniors.
I have introduced the Stop Scammers Act. This bill will
give the Treasury Department the authority to formally
designate scam networks as foreign financial threat
organizations and freeze their assets, cutoff their
communication lines, and block their access to our financial
system, and one thing we have got to do is we have got to make
sure--and I have talked to Kash Patel about this and Pam
Bondi--we have got to make sure our foreign resources, you
know, are focused on the things that have to be done at the
federal level and don't continue to focus on the things that
the local sheriff's departments and police departments can do.
If a foreign organization is preying on American seniors, they
should be treated with the same seriousness and penalties as
any other threat to our national security. That is exactly what
the Stop Scammers Act allows us to do.
Today, we will hear from leaders who are combating this
issue on the frontlines in our communities. We will hear how
they are working to fight fraud and protect our seniors. Our
goal today is simple: Educate the public on this important
issue and start removing the stigma associated with reporting
fraud and scams when they happen. There are a lot of people
that are embarrassed, so they don't want to report it. They
don't want to tell their families, and they clearly don't want
to call law enforcement. We will hear from our community
leaders on how to accomplish this, what proactive steps we can
take to protect our vulnerable populations against scammers,
and how we can empower seniors to recognize these threats.
Seniors deserve to feel safe when answering the phone,
opening their email, and trusting the people around them. They
also deserve to feel like they will be heard, that their
concerns are valid when they report fraud to local authorities.
Oftentimes, it is local law enforcement that is left to pick up
the pieces by supporting victims, investigating these crimes,
and trying to stop them from happening again.
This is one of the reasons I and Ranking Member Gillibrand
joined with Senator Britt to introduce the GUARD Act. This bill
supports law enforcement investigations into scams against
retirees and expands the use of existing grants to go into
fraud networks. The work our law enforcement plays in
identifying and investigating scams against retirees is crucial
to this fight.
Our first witness knows that reality all too well and has
been a leader in showing how local agencies can fight back.
Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz is one of our state's finest law
enforcement officials and brings decades of experience to her
role protecting residents of Miami-Dade County. I am very
appreciative of the sheriff. We got to know each other before
she ran for sheriff. She is somebody that really cares about
law enforcement. She has a law enforcement background. She
cares about the law enforcement community and her community,
and she is doing a great job.
Sheriff, we are grateful that you are here today. Thank you
for your service, for being a champion for the safety and
dignity of older Americans.
Please begin your testimony.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROSIE CORDERO-STUTZ,
SHERIFF, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, DORAL, FLORIDA
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Good morning, Chairman, distinguished
panelists, and everyone present. Welcome to the Miami-Dade
Sheriff's Office. This is your home.
Thank you, Chairman Rick Scott, for your leadership and
continued commitment to protecting America's seniors. It is an
honor to stand beside you or sit beside you in this critical
fight.
Florida is home to one of the largest senior populations in
the country, and here in Miami-Dade County, we are proud of the
enormous value of our older residents and what they bring with
their families, our neighborhoods, and our history, but as
Chairman Scott has long understood, our seniors also face
growing threats from scams, abuse, and financial exploitation,
and those threats are only becoming more sophisticated.
Since taking office in January, I made a promise to our
residents to do everything in my power to protect our elderly
population from harm. That is why I launched a set of online
tools to make it easier for people to report fraud and abuse. I
have said it before, and I will say it again. These deceptive
schemes can cause lifechanging harm, but awareness and
prevention can make all of the difference.
Chairman Scott's work on the U.S. Senate Special Committee
on Aging is a beacon of leadership. His dedication through the
TRACED Act, which is Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal
Enforcement and Deterrence, and pushing for the reauthorization
of the Older Americans Act shows his deep understanding that
protecting seniors is not just a policy priority, it is a moral
responsibility.
Chairman Scott has reminded us that more than 10 million
Americans benefited from the Older Americans Act program last
year. That includes meal deliveries, transportation, and day
services. Those programs provide much-needed support to the
elderly. Through visitations, workers can detect signs of abuse
or neglect.
At the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, our Cyber Crimes Bureau
and Economic Crimes Section are working around the clock. From
AI-generated scams to cryptocurrency theft and robocalls
threatening arrest, these crimes are devastating. Retirement
funds are wiped out, victims are saddled with debt, and many
are left feeling embarrassed, isolated, and afraid.
Our Cyber Crimes Bureau is staffed with highly trained
investigators who are leading the charge, working with
cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe, including in
countries where treaties fall short, to recover stolen funds.
We have seen scammers use AI scripts to generate fake websites
and realistic investment dashboards. They prey on our seniors
through messaging apps, removing human interaction and making
detection harder.
That is why timeliness matters. The faster the scams are
reported, the better our chances are at stopping them before
they vanish and reappear under a new name. We will continue to
strengthen interagency collaboration. That means stronger ties
with federal partners like the FBI, Homeland Security
investigations, and the Department of Business and Professional
Regulation.
We must not forget the growing threat of condo and HOA
fraud occurring right here in our backyard, a quiet crisis
disproportionately affecting our elderly homeowners. One of my
first actions as sheriff was to set up a hotline and an email
address for people to call if they suspect public or HOA
corruption.
Elderly residents are particularly vulnerable to fraud
schemes involving unauthorized assessments, embezzlement, and
falsified records. These crimes often go unreported or under-
investigated due to the complexity of association governance
and legal frameworks. We are working with state regulators to
detect fraud in these associations and protect the rights of
vulnerable residents.
Preventing fraud begins with education, as many homeowners
are unaware of their rights. We have a public outreach
initiative to empower residents and will continue to do so. To
our residents, don't share Social Security numbers or banking
information over the phone. Hang up on suspicious callers. The
level of sophistication with regard to such scams is
increasing. If you get a call from a relative or friend and
they tell you to send them money immediately, verify it by
calling them back on a trusted number. Never let urgency
override common sense.
To our agency partners, let's keep pushing. Let's
coordinate more, train more, and share more because in a
perfect world, every senior in our community should live safe,
supported, and scam-free.
Thank you, and thank you again, Chairman Scott, for
standing with us on this mission.
Chairman Scott. Sheriff, would you like to say anything in
Spanish, just a summary?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. A summary.
Buenos dias presidente, distinguidos panelistas y todos los
presentes. Bienvenidos a la oficina de la Sheriff de Miami-
Dade. Esta es su casa. Gracias, presidente Rick Scott, por su
liderazgo y compromiso continuo para proteger a las personas
mayores de Estados Unidos. Es un honor estar a su lado en esta
lucha critica.
Florida es el hogar de una de las poblaciones de personas
mayores mas grandes del pais, y aqui en el Condado de Miami-
Dade, estamos orgullosos del enorme valor que nuestros
residentes mayores aportan a nuestras familias, nuestros
vecindarios y nuestra historia. Pero como el presidente Scott
ha entendido durante mucho tiempo, nuestros adultos mayores
tambien enfrentan amenazas crecientes de estafas, abusos y
explotaci"n financiera. Y esas amenazas solo se estan volviendo
mas sofisticadas.
Desde que asumi el cargo en enero, hice una promesa a
nuestros residentes: hacer todo lo que este a mi alcance para
proteger a nuestra poblacion de ancianos de cualquier dano. Es
por eso que lance un conjunto de herramientas en linea para
facilitar que las personas denuncien fraudes y abusos. Lo he
dicho antes y lo dire de nuevo: estos esquemas enganosos pueden
causar danos que cambian la vida. Pero la conciencia y la
prevencion pueden marcar la diferencia.
El trabajo del presidente Scott en el Comite Especial sobre
el Envejecimiento del Senado de los Estados Unidos es un faro
de liderazgo. Su dedicaci"n a traves de la Ley TRACED
(Telefono, Robocall, Abuso, Ejecucion Criminal y Disuasion) y
su impulso para la reautorizacion de la Ley de Estadounidenses
Mayores muestra su profundo conocimiento de que proteger a las
personas mayores no es solo una prioridad politica, es una
responsabilidad moral. El presidente Scott nos ha recordado que
mas de 10 millones de estadounidenses se beneficiaron del
programa de la Ley de Estadounidenses Mayores el ano pasado.
Eso incluye entrega de comidas, transporte y servicios diurnos.
Esos programas brindan un apoyo muy necesario a los ancianos. A
traves de las visitas, los trabajadores pueden detectar signos
de abuso o negligencia.
En la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, nuestra Oficina de
Delitos Ciberneticos y la Seccion de Delitos Economicos est n
trabajando las 24 horas del dia. Desde estafas generadas por IA
hasta robo de criptomonedas y llamadas automaticas que amenazan
con arresto, estos delitos son devastadores. Los fondos de
jubilacion son eliminados, las victimas cargan con deudas y
muchos se sienten avergonzados, aislados y asustados.
Nuestra Oficina de Delitos Ciberneticos cuenta con
investigadores altamente capacitados que lideran la carga
trabajando con intercambios de criptomonedas en todo el mundo,
incluso en paises donde los tratados son insuficientes, para
recuperar fondos robados. Hemos visto a los estafadores usar
scripts de IA para generar sitios web falsos y paneles de
inversion realistas. Se aprovechan de nuestros adultos mayores
a traves de aplicaciones de mensajeria, eliminando la
interaccion humana y dificultando la deteccion.
Por eso es importante la puntualidad. Cuanto mas rapido se
denuncien las estafas, mayores seran nuestras posibilidades de
detenerlas antes de que desaparezcan y reaparezcan con un nuevo
nombre.
Continuaremos fortaleciendo la colaboracion
interinstitucional. Eso significa lazos mas fuertes con socios
federales como el FBI, Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional y
el Departamento de Regulacion Comercial y Profesional.
Y no debemos olvidar la creciente amenaza de fraude de
condominios y asociaciones de propietarios que ocurre aqui
mismo en nuestro patio trasero, una crisis silenciosa que
afecta de manera desproporcionada a nuestros propietarios de
viviendas mayores. Una de mis primeras acciones como alguacil
fue establecer una linea directa y una direccion de correo
electronico para que las personas llamaran si sospechaban de
corrupcion publica o de la Asociacion de Propietarios. Los
residentes de edad avanzada son particularmente vulnerables a
esquemas de fraude que involucran evaluaciones no autorizadas,
malversacion de fondos o registros falsificados. Estos delitos
a menudo no se denuncian o no se investigan lo suficiente
debido a la complejidad de la gobernanza y los marcos legales
de las asociaciones.
Estamos trabajando con los reguladores estatales para
detectar el fraude en estas asociaciones y proteger los
derechos de los residentes vulnerables. La prevencion del
fraude comienza con la educacion, ya que muchos propietarios
desconocen sus derechos. Tenemos una iniciativa de divulgacion
publica para empoderar a los residentes y continuaremos
haciendolo.
A nuestros residentes: no compartan su numero de Seguro
Social o informacion bancaria por telefono. Cuelgue las
llamadas sospechosas. El nivel de sofisticacion con respecto a
tales estafas esta aumentando. Si recibe una llamada de un
familiar o amigo y le dicen que le envie dinero de inmediato,
verifiquelo llamandolo a un numero de confianza. Nunca dejes
que la urgencia anule el sentido comun.
A nuestras agencias y socios: sigamos presionando.
Coordinemos mas, capacitemos mas y compartamos mas. Porque en
un mundo perfecto, todas las personas mayores de nuestra
comunidad deben vivir seguras, apoyadas y libres de estafas.
Gracias y gracias de nuevo, presidente Scott, por apoyarnos
en esta mision.
Chairman Scott. El Comite Especial sobre el Envejecimiento
del Senado de EE. UU. ahora entrara en orden.
Gracias a todos por estar aqui hoy. Es maravilloso estar de
vuelta en casa en Florida mientras seguimos haciendo el trabajo
de este comite.
La forma en que funciona este trabajo en el Senado es que
no queremos perder ninguna votacion, y estamos en Washington de
40 a 42 semanas al ano. Moverse por el estado es mas dificil
que en mi tiempo como Gobernador, pero es agradable estar aqui
de nuevo.
Quiero agradecer enormemente al departamento de la Sheriff
del Condado de Miami-Dade y a la Sheriff por recibirnos aqui
hoy. Hay muchos lideres locales aqui y muchos amigos con los
que he tenido la oportunidad de crear una relacion durante
losultimos 15 anos desde que comence a postularme para
Gobernador, y quienes se unen a nosotros hoy para una discusion
muy importante.
Uno de los mayores problemas que escucho de los floridanos
y las personas mayores de todo el pais es la creciente amenaza
de estafas, fraudes y explotacion financiera.
Ya sea una llamada telefonica de alguien que se hace pasar
por un nieto en problemas, un sospechoso plan de inversion
entregado por correo o un correo electronico de un impostor del
gobierno amenazando con tiempo en la carcel, estos criminales
estan apuntando a nuestros ancianos con cada vez mas
sofisticacion. Y creo que ha impactado a casi todas las
familias.
Nuestros adultos mayores a menudo son especialmente
vulnerables a este tipo de fraude. Lamentablemente, para muchos
Estadounidenses mayores, ser victimas de una estafa no solo
significa perder dinero; tambien puede significar perder la
tranquilidad, la confianza en los demas y la confianza en si
mismos mientras navegan la vida diaria.
Como este comite ha escuchado muchas veces antes, este es
un problema de miles de millones al ano.
En 2024, los estadounidenses mayores de 60 anos perdieron
la asombrosa cantidad de $4.8 mil millones por estafas y eso es
justo lo que se han reportado las estafas.
Muchas personas mayores no informan haber sido estafadas
por miedo, verguenza o la simple creencia de que nada se puede
hacer ni se hara. Muchos tampoco estan seguros de donde o como
hacer para denunciar que paso. Todos los que conozco en la
aplicacion de la ley en todo el pais quieren ayudarlo.
Desafortunadamente, el statu quo durante demasiado tiempo
en Washington ha sido celebrar audiencias, informes de
problemas y pasar al siguiente problema sin tomar medidas
significativas para solucionar el problema.
Todos sabemos que eso es inaceptable, y no podemos permitir
que eso suceda aqui. Especialmente cuando nuestros padres,
abuelos, vecinos y amigos estan siendo atacados activamente por
criminales todos los dias.
Muchas personas mayores viven con ingresos fijos, y este
tipo de explotacion puede ser la diferencia entre una
jubilaci"n comoda llena de conexion y seguridad, y
financieramente luchando durante sus anos dorados con
sentimientos de desconfianza y aislamiento.
Es por eso que nos enfocamos en combatir el fraude y las
estafas en todos los niveles.
Necesitamos resaltar y discutir como podemos empoderar de
manera efectiva a las personas mayores, las familias y nuestras
comunidades para protegerse a si mismos y a nuestros amigos y
vecinos ancianos contra estos estafadores. Y luego debemos
actuar para luchar y proteger a las personas mayores.
Muchas de estas acciones se destacan en nuestro Informe de
fraude de 2025. Estoy agradecido con mis colegas de esta
comision por trabajar conmigo para elaborar este informe.
El informe, que esta disponible en linea en
Aging.Senate.Gov/Scam, incluye Informacion util destinada a
prevenir el fraude y proporcionar recursos para que nuestras
personas mayores reporten las estafas cuando ocurren.
Es hora de que dejemos de jugar a la defensiva y comencemos
a la ofensiva. Debemos apoyar a nuestros oficiales de la ley y
el orden en todos los niveles, educar al publico e innovar en
la forma de proteger a los estadounidenses vulnerables.
Es por eso que estamos aqui en el gran estado de Florida
para la audiencia de hoy.
Nuestro estado es el hogar de as de 4 millones de personas
mayores. Es un punto de acceso para los jubilados y,
desafortunadamente, actividad fraudulenta.
Es por eso que he convertido en una prioridad trabajar con
las fuerzas del orden locales, estatales y federales, grupos
comunitarios y nuestros l!deres estatales para combatir el
fraude de frente.
Tambien debemos analizar detenidamente de donde provienen
muchas de estas estafas. Y esto no se puede hacer solo a nivel
local, tenemos que hacerlo a nivel federal.
Cada vez mas, estamos viendo operaciones de fraude
transnacionales coordinadas, especialmente de la China
comunista y otros adversarios extranjeros, y no olvidemos que
son nuestros adversario, la China comunista es un adversario,
si compras algo de los comunistas de China, estas ayudando a un
adversario.
Estos no son incidentes aislados. Son operaciones a gran
escala que se ejecutan desde llamadas en el extranjero, centros
de investigacion, a menudo con el conocimiento, o incluso la
proteccion, de regimenes como el Partido Comunista Chino.
Estos grupos utilizan datos robados, tecnologia de
inteligencia artificial y criptomonedas para explotar
Americanos.
Esto es mas que un problema de proteccion al consumidor; es
una preocupacion de seguridad nacional para nosotros. Es
necesario tratarlo como tal y responsabilizar a estos
delincuentes por permitir actividades que perjudican a las
personas mayores estadounidenses.
He presentado la Ley STOP Scammers. Este proyecto de ley le
da al Departamento del Tesoro la autoridad para designar
formalmente las redes de estafa como "Amenaza financiera
extranjera" y congelan sus activos, cortan sus lineas de
comunicacion y bloquean su acceso a nuestro sistema financiero.
Una cosa que tenemos que hacer, y he hablado con el director
del FBI Kash Patel y la procuradora general Pam Bondi sobre
esto, tenemos que asegurarnos de que nuestros recursos se
centren en lo que tenemos que hacer a nivel federal, y no en lo
que tenemos que hacer sobre las cosas a nivel local que pueden
hacer los departamentos del alguacil.
Si una organizacion externa se aprovecha de las personas
mayores estadounidenses, deben ser tratadas con la misma
gravedad y sanciones que cualquier otra amenaza a nuestra
seguridad nacional. Es decir, exactamente lo que la Ley STOP
Scammers nos permite hacer.
Hoy, escucharemos a los lideres que estan combatiendo este
problema en la primera linea de nuestras comunidades.
Escucharemos como estan trabajando para combatir el fraude y
proteger a nuestros adultos mayores.
Nuestro objetivo hoy es simple: educar al publico sobre
este importante tema y comenzar a eliminar el estigma asociado
con la denuncia de fraudes y estafas cuando ocurren. Hay mucha
gente que se averguenza y no quiere denunciarlo, no quiere
contarlo a sus familias y claramente no quieren decirselo a la
polic!a.
Escucharemos a nuestros lideres comunitarios sobre como
lograr esto, que medidas podemos tomar para proteger a nuestras
poblaciones vulnerables contra los estafadores, y como podemos
empoderar a nuestros adultos mayores para que reconozcan estas
amenazas.
Las personas mayores merecen sentirse seguras al contestar
el telefono, abrir su correo electronico y confiar en las
personas que los rodean.
Tambien merecen sentir que seran escuchados y que sus
preocupaciones son validas cuando denuncian el fraude a las
autoridades locales.
A menudo, es la policia local la que tiene que recoger los
pedazos apoyando victimas, investigando estos crimenes y
tratando de evitar que vuelvan a suceder.
Esta es una de las razones por las que la miembro de Alto
Rango Gillibrand y yo, nos unimos al Senador Britt para
introducir la Ley GUARD. Este proyecto de ley apoya las
investigaciones policiales sobre estafas contra los jubilados y
amplia el uso de las subvenciones existentes para perseguir las
redes de fraude.
El trabajo que realizan nuestras fuerzas del orden publico
en la identificacion e investigacion de estafas contra los
jubilados son cruciales para esta lucha.
Our next witness is Jeff Johnson, the Florida State
Director of AARP. Thank you, Sheriff.
STATEMENT OF JEFF JOHNSON, STATE DIRECTOR,
AARP FLORIDA, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Mr. Johnson. Thanks for the opportunity and for inviting us
to testify today. My name is Jeff Johnson. I am the State
Director for AARP Florida.
AARP advocates for more than 100 million Americans age 50
and older, including 10 million here in the Sunshine State.
AARP has long worked to educate consumers, support victims of
fraud, and improve detection and prevention across industries,
including through our Fraud Watch Network, our Bank Safe
Program, and our advocacy work in the states and at the federal
level.
Fraud in America is at crisis levels. Floridians reported
the theft of over $1 billion from fraud in 2024, over 1/3 of
which was stolen from adults aged 60 and older, and that is
very likely a low estimate due to underreporting caused in part
by the stigma and victim-blaming associated with fraud. While
our society treats many victims of other crimes with
compassion, we tend to place responsibility on the victims of
fraud who fell for a scam, blaming victims for not being smart
enough or paying close enough attention in the first place, and
this works in favor of criminals who know that most of these
crimes may go unprosecuted.
Older Americans aren't just losing their retirement savings
from fraud. In some cases, they are even losing their homes.
Just last month, AARP's Fraud Watch Network helpline received a
report from Edward, a Florida man in his 60's who had the
entire proceeds from the sale of his home stolen by
cybercriminals, more than $400,000 in total. With all his money
gone, this older Floridian went from selling his home in order
to downsize to facing the threat of homelessness in a matter of
seconds.
While I know that you and the rest of the Committee are
very familiar with the work that AARP does at the federal level
of policymaking, and I would like to thank you in particular
for your sponsorship of the GUARD Act as just one example of
the federal policy addressing fraud, I would like to focus on
the work we are doing here in the Sunshine State in today's
remarks.
AARP Florida plays a key role in educating Floridians about
the latest scams and frauds and how to prevent them. We don't
do this work alone, however. Local law enforcement agencies are
key allies in education, sharing our resources while we in turn
highlight their services and sharing the excellent work that
they do. For example, our team recently showcased the SafetyNet
program of Walton County's Sheriff's Office, which offers
isolated residents in the Florida panhandle with a lifeline,
social connection through the Sheriff's Office that provides
meaningful health and safety protections, while reducing
residents' risk for potentially devastating cases of fraud and
exploitation too often caused and/or concealed by social
isolation.
AARP hosts fraud prevention events in communities across
the state, including shred events that allow residents to
safely dispose of sensitive information that might otherwise
fall into the hands of fraudsters. Often these events are
paired with educational seminars and trainings. Within the past
year, AARP has hosted two different fraud prevention summits in
partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice here in
Florida, one in the Villages and then one in Century Village
here in south Florida.
Even the best education, though, is only a piece of the
puzzle. AARP Florida has supported state laws and regulations
tackling real estate scams, suspicious financial transactions,
and gift card fraud, providing model policies and practical
protections that strengthen safeguards for consumers at the
state level. We are now taking the fight against fraud to the
local level, working with several local governments to tackle
cryptocurrency kiosk fraud.
Addressing fraud requires more than piecemeal solutions. It
demands a whole-of-society approach. Even though there is much
work to do, Florida is an example of what this type of
comprehensive approach could look like. AARP Florida is working
directly with allies to provide real-time education and to
support our neighbors and loved ones who are at risk of being
scammed. We also are working with policymakers at all levels of
government to improve laws and regulations to protect consumers
and prosecute fraudsters, and we work with law enforcement
agencies across the state that have identified the dramatic
scope and impact of senior fraud on their communities and who
are fighting back. There is much more work to be done, but we
all recognize the crisis, which is the first step toward
turning the tide.
Thank you, Chairman Scott, for bringing attention to this
important issue, and we look forward to continuing to work with
you to protect Florida seniors.
Chairman Scott. Thanks. Let me just brag about Jeff for a
second. Jeff has spent years leading efforts to empower older
Americans with the tools they need. AARP does a great job. This
fraud watch network has become a lifeline for many seniors, so
they do a great job, and Jeff is committed to this every day,
so----
Mr. Johnson. Thank you.
Chairman Scott. You should be Governor because, as
Governor, you get to meet everybody in the state, and you get
to build great relationships, and you find good people doing a
lot of great things, so I always want to call out my friend
Rene, because Rene was campaigning when no one knew me in the
state, and everybody knew Rene, so I just tried to stand next
to him whenever I was in Hialeah.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Scott. All right, now our next witness, Kathy
Kraninger, the president and CEO of the Florida Bankers
Association, she brings a wealth of experience in financial
policy and consumer protection, having served in senior
leadership roles in both government and the private sector.
Under her leadership, the Florida Bankers Association has
worked closely with banks across the state to protect older
customers from fraud and scams through training, technology,
and increased awareness for both customers and employees. Thank
you for being here, and by the way, Kathy doesn't have just
great relationships here in Florida. She has great
relationships in D.C. also and did a great job when she was up
in D.C.
You can begin your testimony, please.
STATEMENT OF HON. KATHY KRANINGER,
PRESIDENT & CEO, FLORIDA BANKERS
ASSOCIATION, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
Ms. Kraninger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Scott, on behalf of the Florida Bankers
Association and our more than 150 member banks across the great
State of Florida, I am honored to appear before you on this
crucial topic. Bankers are on the frontline of the fight
against fraud, working to protect our customers against scams,
identity theft, and cybercrime, and this Committee, and
certainly you, Mr. Chairman, as you have said, know well that
the level of fraud and scams now constitutes a national crisis.
While some of the most troubling cases affecting the most
vulnerable among us, such as older Americans, who are the focus
of this Committee, no one is immune from the barrage of
attempts via every mode of communication in our modern society.
It is a game of numbers. The sheer volume and ease of attempts
means more success for the bad guys. Scammers are approaching
targets through email, phone, text messages, social media
channels, social media ads, just to name a few of the avenues,
and the technology advancements, as we know, like deepfakes,
enable more sophisticated deceptions.
Right now the bar is fairly low. The scammers can be so
successful that, as we have already heard, transnational
criminal organizations are heavily involved in these types of
frauds, so much so that Bankrate recently found that one in
three Americans experienced some type of financial fraud or
scam in the past year, and 68 percent reported that they had
experienced one in their lifetime. My written testimony and the
testimony submitted by my fellow witnesses outlines the problem
and the heartbreaking stories of those directly affected.
Bankers are deeply concerned about these trends. We know
our customers and are doing everything possible to prevent the
loss of their hard-earned savings, as well as the emotional and
personal impacts that scams have on victims. Banks
appropriately have made significant investments in detecting
suspicious activity and acting to stop fraud, as permitted by
law. We are advocating for state-level hold laws and have
worked with AARP to pass one in Florida. With the right
protections, these laws allow banks to delay or hold
transactions when there is suspicion of elder financial
exploitation. In addition, we encourage customers to provide
trusted individuals that banks can contact in the case of
suspicious activity.
Financial education also plays a significant role in
countering fraud, and financial institutions are consistent in
providing customer education and employee training. With
campaigns like "Banks Never Ask That," as the Sheriff outlined,
many of the things that you should never provide to anyone who
calls you cold, and Practice Safe Checks. Bank employees are
doing so much, yet the hardest piece of this puzzle is often
convincing customers that they are being scammed. Ultimately,
banks cannot stop those insistent customers from doing what
they want to do with their own money.
What more can we do? The Florida Bankers Association
advocates for a national strategy that will tackle fraud and
scams from all angles, including cutting off those
communications channels to targeted victims, bolstering public
education, and ensuring prosecution of criminals. As a society,
we have to look for opportunities to intervene before the point
of payment.
The banking industry has encouraged and supported the
Federal Communications Commission in its efforts to combat
fraud perpetrated over our telecommunications systems,
including development of a scam database and requiring caller
ID authentication solutions on non-Internet protocol networks.
Telecommunications, big tech, and social media companies need
to do more to raise the bar on the ease for scammers' initial
contact with their targets. Selling services to consumers to
block certain approaches like communications from overseas that
they don't want and don't expect, as well as engaging in
voluntary best practices to flag potential scam accounts or ads
for customers, can only help.
Government agencies need to have clearer lanes in gathering
and sharing actionable, up-to-date information on the
typologies, patterns, and characteristics that they see
scammers employing, and partnership with law enforcement at the
local and state and federal levels is absolutely essential, as
you have already heard. The FBA is working with the Florida
Attorney General's Office to explore establishing a financial
crimes intelligence center at the state level that would be
dedicated to financial crimes identification and information
sharing, like one employed in Texas about three years ago, that
is really seeing success, and the effort would build on the
great work already done by the Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit.
Fraud is not just a banking problem. It is a societal
threat that requires coordinated action, as we have been
saying. Florida's bankers are committed to protecting our
customers and our communities, but we cannot do it alone, and
we are incredibly grateful for your leadership, Chairman Scott,
and certainly for the partners who are around this table in the
efforts that they have undertaken to make sure that the public
is aware and to shine a light on these horrific scams.
I look forward to answering your questions and appreciate
the opportunity to be here.
Chairman Scott. Thanks, Kathy.
Our final witness is Brandy Bauer, the Joint Center
Director for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program
Technical Assistance Center, easy name, and the Senior Medicare
Patrol National Resource Center. She has led national efforts
to equip seniors with the knowledge and resources they need to
spot, stop, and report Medicare fraud. Through the Senior
Medicare Patrol, she helps empower older Americans and their
caregivers to safeguard their benefits and personal
information, often serving as the first line of defense against
scammers.
Brandy, first off, thanks for your work, and thanks for
joining us.
STATEMENT OF BRANDY BAUER, JOINT CENTER DIRECTOR
FOR THE STATE HEALTH INSURANCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
(SHIP) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER SENIOR
MEDICARE PATROL (SMP) NATIONAL
RESOURCE CENTER, WATERLOO, IOWA
Ms. Bauer. Thank you, Chairman Scott. Thank you for
inviting me here today on behalf of the Senior Medicare Patrol
Program.
The nation's 54 Senior Medicare Patrol, or SMP programs,
are managed by the U.S. Administration for Community Living
with the mission to help empower and assist people to prevent,
detect, and report Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse. Medicare
fraud is a particularly insidious form of financial scam
because, unlike other fraud schemes targeting an individual,
the government and American taxpayers all pay the price. It is
also challenging to detect Medicare fraud in real time, as
there can be weeks or even months between when Medicare is
falsely billed for services and when an enrollee sees that
charge show up on their Medicare summary notice or plan's
explanation of benefits.
The Senior Medicare Patrol program model is one of
prevention. SMPs educate millions of Medicare beneficiaries
each year on how to guard their personal health information,
scrutinize their medical statements and bills, and subsequently
alert the program to any suspicious activity. The SMPs report
cases of possible fraud, errors, and abuse to the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services and HHS Office of Inspector
General, who take up the investigation.
Here is just one real-life example of how this work plays
out. Recently, a gentleman from Walton County, Florida, was
looking at his Medicare summary notice and discovered charges
for urinary catheters and glucose monitoring supplies,
equipment that he neither needs nor ever received. He reported
this to the Florida Senior Medicare Patrol, who were able to
help him get a new, uncompromised Medicare number. Yet Medicare
had already paid over $15,000 for these fraudulent charges.
This beneficiary was observant. Think how many times this
scenario plays out across Florida and the country and goes
undetected. As such, it is hard to get a concrete calculation
of how much Medicare fraud costs Americans each year, but
estimates put it in the tens of billions of dollars.
Because the Senior Medicare Patrol relies heavily on
trusted volunteers from the community, in many cases older
adults themselves, the SMP program is often on the forefront of
detecting emerging fraud trends. SMPs were among the first
groups to spot unusual activity around fraudsters offering
COVID0919 test kits in exchange for personal or medical
information. Other emerging schemes the SMPs have helped
identify include genetic testing scams, hospice fraud, and most
recently, schemes related to remote patient monitoring and
wound care.
In addition to costing Medicare billions of dollars, some
of these schemes can cause real patient harm, such as when a
person falsely enrolled in hospice may be denied coverage for
services that fall outside of palliative care.
The Senior Medicare Patrol is an Older Americans Act
success story. First authorized under the OAA in 1997, the SMPs
have provided outreach, counseling, and education about
Medicare fraud to millions of older Americans. Since their
creation, expected recoveries to Medicare and Medicaid
attributable to the SMPs equals more than $287 million.
But Medicare fraud doesn't exist in a vacuum. People
vulnerable to other forms of financial exploitation may be at
risk of unknowingly sharing their medical identity with health
insurance fraudsters. Many of the same prevention strategies
that we have heard from the panel are relevant here as well,
such as encouraging people with Medicare to guard their medical
identity just as they would their Social Security or banking
information, hang up on unsolicited calls, and report
suspicious activity to the authorities. The Senior Medicare
Patrol's efforts not only serve to enhance the financial,
physical, and mental well-being of older adults, but also to
preserve the integrity of Medicare.
I would like to thank the Chairman and the Senate Aging
Committee for including our program in this important
conversation today.
Chairman Scott. I have some questions. Sheriff, do you
believe penalties for elder exploitation are strong enough to
deter criminals?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. No, I actually believe that it is the
fact that there is a lack of that pressure of real threats
against committing these crimes that encourages this behavior.
We need to increase the penalties on these kinds of crimes.
Chairman Scott. Kathy, so if I got a letter from some law
firm from Canada, and they said that they represent somebody
that died, had the same last name as mine. They weren't sure
that they were related to me, but maybe it was like $10.5
million dollars. I could get half of it and they get the other
half, and then I looked on the website, and it looked like a
real law firm, but it had nobody's name. Is that something I
should be concerned about?
Ms. Kraninger. The answer is definitely yes. Mr. Chairman,
as you well know, if it sounds too good to be true----
Chairman Scott. Five and a half million bucks.
Ms. Kraninger. I know. If it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is. I feel like so many of us need that reminder, but
it is really the barrage of things that come at us every day
and the distractions in modern society, and then you do talk,
obviously, with those who are vulnerable and with diminished
capacity. That is just a different world.
Chairman Scott. Wouldn't it just be a potential upside?
Would I have to write a check or something?
Ms. Kraninger. This is how they string you along, as you
well know, so they will tell you that this money could be
coming at you, but then, of course, you have to pay some kind
of fee to start the process going, and that is absolutely the
way the scammers hook you.
Chairman Scott. I got a letter just like that, same last
name, and I looked up the law firm and it had the law firm, but
had no lawyers listed, right? I just gave it to my general
counsel. I mean----
Ms. Kraninger. Yes, imposters issues are huge. I mean, it
is so easy. Well, frankly, in this state, too, and in general
across the country, it is so easy to set up a corporation, too,
so there is a lot of fraud happening in even business setup
processes too, so you can pretend--you are essentially a real
corporation. You have been approved or you set up a shell and
you use that, again, to scam people. It is very concerning, and
it is too easy.
Chairman Scott. Jeff, those nice texts I get that say I owe
money for E-ZPass----
Mr. Johnson. We were just talking about that.
Chairman Scott. That is not fraud, is it? I just send them
my credit card----
Mr. Johnson. Right.
Chairman Scott Right? Is that what I am supposed to do?
Mr. Johnson. Senator, please don't do that. You know, one
of the things that has been fascinating has been the
development of kind of scammers on-the-ground intelligence.
They jump on a new scam, and then it explodes, and you will be
driving on a toll road and start getting texts even if you are
not in that state, even if you are not in your car, that look
like maybe they could be correct, and yet you realize if you go
check it out at the source, that SunPass is not hunting people
down by text in order to collect their tolls, and if you pay
attention, sometimes you will see that the address, though it
can be deceptive, often is coming from an international number,
to go to your point that this is not just a domestic issue.
There are opportunities to learn, but every time we close
off one scam, it seems like folks just figure out what is the
next way that I can get your hard-earned money.
Chairman Scott. Brandy, when some provider does what--you
know, as an example you had, who pays for that?
Ms. Bauer. Medicare, but all of us.
Chairman Scott. Right.
Ms. Bauer. At the end of the day, all of us are American
taxpayers, and we will see that, you know, carried on to us
through higher premiums, through higher cost of services.
Chairman Scott. First off, we all know the Medicare trust
fund is going to go bankrupt in six or eight years, right?
Ms. Bauer. Yep.
Chairman Scott. Then on top of that, what we have watched
is we have watched seniors, their premiums are continuing to go
up.
Ms. Bauer. Right.
Chairman Scott. If there is X dollars of fraud, we are
paying for it.
Ms. Bauer. Exactly.
Chairman Scott. It is not free.
Ms. Bauer. Exactly. That solvency date, you know, it keeps
moving because the more the system is scammed, you know, the
less solvent it is going to be.
Chairman Scott. Right. Mr. Johnson, one thing I have tried
to do is try to get help close to community rather than--there
is a bureaucracy in D.C. I don't know if you guys knew that----
Mr. Johnson. Oh, well----
Chairman Scott. From AARP's perspective, how does the GUARD
Act strike the right balance by empowering local agencies and
community groups without relying on Washington to do it all?
Mr. Johnson. Thank you for asking that question, Chairman
Scott, and I think that the value that we see in the GUARD Act
is that it does empower local law enforcement. One of the
things that we notice is that on the policy side, in addition
to being wonderful fellow educators to help empower people to
fight fraud, it is local law enforcement that sees what the
problems are.
There are often cases where--and I will use cryptocurrency
kiosks as an example--where at the federal level, there is some
knowledge that there is potential use of those as fraud, just
as gift cards in the past have been used as fraud. At the state
level, there is some knowledge of it, but you go talk to a
local sheriff or local police chief, and they will tell you
stories of people who have lost thousands and thousands of
dollars.
They also will help identify what are the ways that we can
rein that in without necessarily, you know, limiting reasonable
use of those, you know, kiosks. How do we make sure that the
fraudsters aren't using them or other criminals? That is the
other thing that we have learned is that local law enforcement
has noticed that cryptocurrency kiosks tend to be popular among
drug dealers in some communities.
Well, it is that community-level information that is really
critical, right, in order to build the right solutions and then
also to build the momentum to pass things at the state and the
federal level, so thank you again for empowering those local
law enforcement agencies with opportunities to really do more
of this because I know that they are already stretched.
Chairman Scott. Sheriff, do you think most local law
enforcement has the resources to go talk to a social media site
to say, hey, you need to take this down because they are fraud?
Are they responsive all the time?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. We are always challenging law
enforcement when it comes to resources, so we could always use
more resources. That is the honest truth, and additionally, we
do often get pushback from some of these organizations, whether
social media platforms or networks, and it often feels as if
more protection is afforded to those who are misusing the
platforms than to those who are trying to protect people. I
think that is a challenge that we have to continue to, you
know, attack head on.
Chairman Scott. It is not easy to get them to--when you are
convinced that there is fraud, it is not easy to get them to
stop.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Absolutely. It is very difficult. They
make it a multilayer process, and sometimes you just can't even
get in touch with a human being.
Chairman Scott. Oh, so they don't have a phone number you
can call that makes it really easy?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Like when you want to unsubscribe.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Correct. Correct.
Chairman Scott. Ms. Kraninger, talk about the holdout? I
mean, just tell me, you know, what the problem is. Somebody
sends the money, and then they figure out that, oh, man, I just
made a mistake. How does the bank deal with this?
Ms. Kraninger. At least it is an option with respect to
these hold laws, and that is possible because the banks, as I
noted, have really pretty sophisticated systems on
transactions. They understand what is normal behavior for this
client, what is not normal behavior. You know, suddenly a
senior is sending money again to an overseas wire account and
they have never done that before, and it is usually, again, the
first drip or you let the first drip go, but then you say, oh,
my gosh, there is another one that is coming now. First one was
500 bucks, the next one is 20,000. You know, that seems pretty
unusual.
That is where, with the right law in place, as we have in
Florida, a bank can stop that transaction and not even allow
the wire to go forward, but then it really is a very manual
process of convincing that client that this is probably not----
Chairman Scott. Do they complain that you--I want to send
that fraudulent amount, right?
Ms. Kraninger. Yes.
Chairman Scott. You are convinced, but they are still
convinced you have to send it, right?
Ms. Kraninger. Yes, that is exactly what happens. Again,
you talk about the heartstrings that scammers are pulling on--I
mean, all of us are vulnerable to that -- you know, it is my
grandson who really needs help or, you know, the prince
actually. The prince scam went around for a long time too, so
this is someone who really needs my help or, again, this person
is going to come and marry me in the United States if only they
can get this amount of money to buy the visa, and so all of
those kinds of stories, the bank tellers and managers and
client services folks have heard it all, and it really is
convincing that person that is a challenge.
Oftentimes, unfortunately, it goes forward or, again, the
option that the bank has to take if there really is no other
way to stop it is to close the account, but then there is no
information-sharing mechanism either because we are not allowed
to for, I mean, good regulatory reasons. Then that customer
goes to another bank, and the whole cycle starts over again,
and that is the thing that we do see.
The hold law does--hopefully, again, it stops the process,
forcing people to stop and think and pause and say, wait a
minute, you know, this really doesn't make sense. That is an
important part of what the hold laws do, but it is not the end-
all, be-all, and we really just have the initial data on how it
is working, and we are looking to get more data to get that
improvement and to work with law enforcement, as those things
get reported to FinCEN as suspicious activity reports and
otherwise, that we can tie it to transnational organized crime
and that we can tie it to law enforcement cases.
Chairman Scott. You work both at the federal and state
level. Is it a lot easier sometimes to get stuff done at the
state level?
Ms. Kraninger. It absolutely is because I am finding--I
spent my career, as the Chairman well knows, in Washington,
DC., and moved to Florida a year and a half ago, and things can
definitely move. Yes, things can move faster at the state
level. It is true. It is true.
Chairman Scott. Yes. Ms. Bauer, as Joint Center Director,
can you explain how the State Health Insurance Assistance
Program helps seniors navigate the Medicare options while
avoiding fraudulent actors?
Ms. Bauer. Yes. Every state has a State Health Insurance
Assistance Program. They go by different names. Here in
Florida, they are called SHINE. That is a federally funded
program that helps people to explore their options for
enrollment and coverage and affording Medicare and really can
help anyone with Medicare family members, caregivers to examine
their coverage, learn how to read your Medicare summary notice
or your explanation of benefits so you actually know how to
look out for those potentially fraudulent charges and also to
get you enrolled in the plan that is going to be best for your
financial and physical needs.
Chairman Scott. How do they find you?
Ms. Bauer. Here is the thing. You have to find them. The
SHINE is sort of the best-kept secret. I know that they only
serve a very small percentage of, you know, the 67 million
people on Medicare, but there is one in every community, and we
certainly encourage you--if you go to SHIPhelp.org, you can
find your local office.
Chairman Scott. Sheriff, you have built really good
relationships--before you were sheriff and while you are
sheriff, you have built really good relationships, so what are
some of the relationships that that you rely on when a senior--
you know, one, you are trying to educate people; and two, when
somebody calls you, what are some of the relationships you
have?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes, I think a lot of our community
support organizations that already have--our seniors are tapped
into them already, so I think for us in law enforcement, being
able to have kind of like an area that we can always go to and
have an audience already built in, and also, because they are
already reporting to some of these community organizations as a
community, a senior community, you will hear about the crime
occurring in those rooms, and so by just being present, it
allows us to hear something, I go, wait, time out, that doesn't
quite sound right.
Also creating those relationships with our community
leaders and organizations allows them to be able to pick up the
phone when they hear something and get us the information. The
sooner we identify the frauds, the sooner we can share with
individuals and kind of break that trend, and that is key, and
you are right. The new one is going to pop up after, but we are
hopeful that as we continue to educate our community, they will
be able to see things from a different lens.
Chairman Scott. My experience is there are way more senior
centers here----
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Than any place in Florida so----
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Which I think probably helps everybody that
wants to try to get something done and educate people.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes.
Chairman Scott. What are some of the most recent scams that
you have seen?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Well, AI-generated voice calls, so you
will get a robocall that sounds just like a grandson or
granddaughter saying that they are in need of help immediately.
One of the recommendations that we make in law enforcement is,
is every family should have this very tough conversation and
say there is a safe word, a family word that if you are in
trouble, you need to use, so that way it will protect the rest
of the family from being scammed.
You cannot tell the difference. The voice, it will sound
exactly like your loved one.
Chairman Scott. Yes, somebody called me to get me to--they
left a message to get me to accept somebody at the White House.
It sounds just like them.
Mr. Johnson, what is the latest you are seeing as far as
scams?
Mr. Johnson. Definitely the evolution of AI has made it
much more difficult to suss out who is a scammer and who is
legitimate. We see romance scams quite a bit among older adults
and people of all ages, again, using AI and deep-fake
technology. I think I saw something recently about a number of
people losing money to fake Keanu Reeves, not actually Keanu
Reeves trying to date you, but a scammer somewhere, and it
preys on the loneliness that many people have in older
adulthood, so they look for companionship. It may not even be
romantic, but they make friends with somebody online, they
might have a couple of calls, and then it becomes something
that either becomes extortion or else just outright fraud and
we have seen over the last couple of months, our Fraud Watch
Helpline has had, I think, half a dozen people who have lost
$100,000 or more to these scams.
Chairman Scott. Right.
Mr. Johnson. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Kathy, what is your latest?
Ms. Kraninger. I can certainly add on that. I will say the
romance scams are the top of the list, and it really gets you
to how lonely and disconnected people are today, which is
concerning, and being in a community like this and seeing how
connected everyone, you hope that people can overcome it.
Investment scams are also big. It gets to the point that
you raised about the law firm and the money that suddenly could
come your way.
Chairman Scott. I made a half million bucks.
Ms. Kraninger. Yes. It sounds too good to be true, so there
are a lot that are crypto-related in particular. You are
basically setting yourself up on what looks like a legitimate
exchange, and they are giving you, you know, a reward for
signing up, and they are hooking you and taking, again, an
initial amount of money where you are buying the tokens. You
can see that the investment that you have just made is
increasing, and so, again, they are dripping it to you and
trying to get you to put in more and more money.
The bank will notice, again, that amount of activity and
start to say, is this a legitimate entity? No, it is not, so
they will contact you, and you will say, no, but this is my
investment, and we will say, okay, try to withdraw the money,
and they will say, well, I don't want to do that, or they are
telling me there are going to be penalties. Just try to do it.
You cannot withdraw the money. They literally shut down your
account and disappear because, again, it is all coming from
overseas, and it is transnational criminal organizations, so
that is a big one right now.
Chairman Scott. Ms. Bauer, what is the latest scam you have
heard?
Ms. Bauer. I feel like there are so many, as the sheriff
mentioned, you know, these imposter calls. A lot of older
adults get calls from an agency that they believe is Medicare
calling them and saying, hey, you need to get your new Medicare
card with a chip in it or something like that, and some of them
utilize AI to actually provide enough information like, hey,
your name is John Doe, your Social Security number, your
Medicare number, and then the person confirms, and that
information, you know, is carried forward.
Another one we are seeing is fraudsters that really tap
into very expensive durable medical equipment, so something we
are seeing more of is urinary catheters, for example, where
they are billing for tens of thousands of urinary catheters and
people who don't even need that, glucose monitoring equipment.
Another one very recently, wound care. There is a new product
on the market that is quite expensive that is for very
specialty wound care. Fraudsters are finding that code and
billing Medicare tens of thousands----
Chairman Scott. They just put it on the bill?
Ms. Bauer. Yes, just put it on the bill.
Chairman Scott. Then nobody checks?
Ms. Bauer. Nobody checks.
Chairman Scott. Yes.
Ms. Bauer. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Because there is probably no copayment or
something.
Ms. Bauer. Or the copayment, you don't get that notice for
like several months down the line. You know, the charge has
already gone through and been paid.
Chairman Scott. Then they are going to expect you to pay
it.
Ms. Bauer. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Yes. Can you each talk about some success
story? Rosie, you want to start?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Okay. Well, I think I would argue more
because it was a successful campaign that we initiated.
Chairman Scott. Yes.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. We went on a very proactive social media
campaign to educate specifically our elderly community on these
scams, and we encouraged them to reach out to us directly to
provide input if they had heard of any other scams, again,
attacking that, you know, get to it as soon as possible, and as
I was out in the community, you know, I hear it from them,
like, that was great, that made me stop and think the next time
someone, you know, called me. Unfortunately, those calls come
way too often for all of us.
Yes, I think that being proactive, listening to what is
going on, and that educational piece, where are they turning
to? Where is our senior community turning to for their facts
about how they can be scammed? We need to make that easier. We
need to make it much more readily available to them.
Chairman Scott. Mr. Johnson, any success stories?
Mr. Johnson. Yes, I think so. I would say what does success
look like is important, right? For us, I think it is really
about empowering each other to serve as neighbors who advocate
for each other and to do it humbly, so, for instance, we do
fraud education summits and we have volunteers here and staff
members who do this in community, as well as working with law
enforcement, U.S. attorneys, certainly would work with banks,
anybody who has good information we want to get out, and what
we notice is once people have gotten a good message, they get
really excited about catching the next scammer. Oh, look, I got
this. Oh, look, here is another one, and instead of spreading
the word about the latest scam as somebody who is being
scammed, they are spreading the word to their friends and
neighbors about the last one that they almost fell for, that
they almost were scammed by, and how we try to make sure to
protect each other.
The other one related to that kind of empowering each
other, we have worked with financial institutions at the
national level, as well as in Florida, on a program called
BankSafe to try to prepare the frontline, the tellers, with the
sorts of kind of psychological behavioral tools to help
somebody that you think is being scammed because, as Kathy
said, this is something that is a very difficult conversation,
and what we found is that that training makes those tellers--
those workers who go through that training with 14 times more
effective at helping prevent somebody who is being scammed from
actually going through with it, so knowledge really is power.
We also need to recognize that we all have to be vigilant
because even if you are a fraud education expert, it doesn't
mean that you are invulnerable to the next one that comes down
the pike.
Chairman Scott. Kathy?
Ms. Kraninger. Well, building on what Jeff just said about
training and what the frontline bank tellers do and others who
are interacting with clients, it is the trusted contacts, or,
you know, again, similar to the safe word, having a trusted
contact program and encouraging, frankly, all your family
members to provide that to the bank because many situations
where the senior is showing up at the bank, again, wanting to
withdraw that $10,000 so they can go to the crypto kiosk that
is down the street, and that is what they have been told to do,
and they are coached, again, by these scammers about what to
say, what is suspicious, what is not, you know, the urgency of
the situation.
Having that trusted contact in the account allows the bank
employee to say, you know, have you talked to your son or
daughter? Do they know about this? Again, probing and actually
trying to contact that person in real time, that has prevented
some from losing funds.
There was a case, again, down in Miami here that we talked
about recently was basically, okay, you want $10,000. Well, the
limit is $500 today, so we are going to give you your $500 and
calling local law enforcement to meet this gentleman, you know,
at the kiosk to have law enforcement also intervene to say,
let's get some more voices in front of this person to hopefully
stop them from doing it, and so he actually only lost $500 and
realized it was a scam, so those types of things are happening,
you know, every day.
I would say at the national level, there is a lot happening
around check fraud in particular. Every avenue of payment,
there is nothing that isn't----
Chairman Scott. How are they doing that?
Ms. Kraninger. Check fraud, there are massive things that
are happening actually through the Postal Service too. We have
been partnering with the Postal Service Inspection Force--
stealing. I mean, having postal keys is now a crime in Florida.
We worked on that last year.They were breaking into the boxes
and literally taking all the mail and then just taking all the
checks and, again, washing checks again. I mean, similar to
what we saw 20 years ago, it is back, and so there is a lot
around paper checks. This is why the Federal Government and
Treasury in particular is requiring verification of Treasury
checks. The President signed the executive order to really
phaseout checks. Those kinds of things are happening.
I mean, the amount of check payment has gone down. I don't
remember the numbers off the top of my head, but in the order
of 40 percent, 50 percent, but the amount of fraud has gone up,
so it is just taking the easiest route, but check fraud, since
we haven't talked about it yet, is still an issue.
Chairman Scott. Yes. Any success stories, Brandy?
Ms. Bauer. Yes. I mean, the Senior Medicare Patrol,
although it is a program focused on prevention, there is a lot
of reporting up to the HHS Office of Inspector General who goes
on to investigate. Each year the OIG within HHS produces a
report where they talk about the Senior Medicare Patrol and the
recoveries that they were able to eventually make for Medicare
on behalf of the project. Last year, it was $35 million. The
year before, it was $111 million.
It is challenging with Medicare fraud because it is usually
multi-years investigation on the part of OIG and then having to
attribute it back. You know, we are very happy that we are able
to see things on the ground, report it up, and eventually see
justice served.
Chairman Scott. Jeff, can you speak about the role of
digital literacy in helping seniors stay safe online?
Mr. Johnson. Yes, absolutely, and as check fraud comes
back, it is another emphasis for people to do a lot of their
financial transactions online, so to be able to do that well,
you need functional digital literacy.
One of the things that AARP is proud of is here in south
Florida there is OATS, Older Adult Technology Services, which
is an affiliate of AARP, has a training center. We also license
for free training on digital literacy all across the state, all
across the country. That just helps people make the next step
in learning how to use the tools that are available to them
safely because, otherwise, to your point, Mr. Chairman, there
is too much opportunity for somebody who is a little unsure or
unpracticed in using a particular, you know, website with
verification and what information you put in, what do you not,
those sorts of things, for a scammer to set up a pretty good-
looking fake, just like the law firm in Canada that is hunting
you down, and get your Social Security number out of it or get
your bank routing number out of it, and then, of course, a
whole cascade of frauds and scams come from that.
To your point, critically important for all of us to stay
up on the latest technology, but particularly those who didn't
grow up with a phone in their hands, to become more and more
comfortable knowing what is safe to do and what should set off
some alarm bells.
Chairman Scott. Sheriff, do you have any special training
for your officers to try to deal with elder fraud?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Yes, we do. We actually have an entire
unit dedicated to investigating those types of crimes. For us,
obviously, I mentioned in my statement that we have such a
large population of seniors that live here, so obviously, I
think that we are in a special place to be able to really
affect that community. Not only applying dedicated resources
and training to these kinds of investigations is key, but
working with our partners in trying to prevent it.
He gave me a great idea. I think we are going to reach out.
I see a community event where you guys can bring that to our
community centers who might not otherwise even know. It is this
collaboration, I think, that will make us all be successful.
Chairman Scott. Kathy, what are the Florida banks doing to
train their frontline employees? What is an example of what
they are doing?
Ms. Kraninger. Well, as Jeff mentioned, BankSafe, too, that
is a big effort, but there is constant training, as you know.
Banking is a heavily regulated industry for good reason. You
are shepherding and holding people's money and their hard-
earned----
Chairman Scott. Right.
Ms. Kraninger [continuing]. savings, so there is extensive
training for bank employees, frankly, at all levels. Again, you
get to digital banking now, and while seniors still tend to
come in person to the bank branches, most people are not coming
to the bank branch, so you have got managers that may be
supporting them on the wealth management side, and so there is
training at every level of bank employees around how to
interact with customers, how to identify suspicious activity,
what to do in terms of reporting, and even, you know,
strengthening the law enforcement relationships locally are all
pieces of training happening.
It is an awkward conversation, as I noted, and so, as with
other things in training, doing some role-playing around that
is also part of the training at a lot of the institutions to
try to get employees more comfortable with, you know, having
what are, again, challenging conversations with customers that
do not want to hear the message that the employees are
delivering.
Chairman Scott. Brandy, what can this Committee do to
amplify your efforts and ensure every senior's access to fraud
protection?
Ms. Bauer. I think that the Committee is doing a fantastic
job in elevating just the variety of fraud schemes that are out
there, all of which kind of play into Medicare fraud. One thing
I think we would love to see more of is awareness and promotion
around the idea that medical identity is as important as
personal identity, as banking information, and we need to do a
better job of preventing medical identity theft and encouraging
people not to give out their medical information.
Chairman Scott. Why don't we finish by each of you just--if
you are going to talk to your grandparent, all right, what
would you tell them the one takeaway that would reduce their
chance of some of that happening?
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. I think it is having a trusted relative
in the family that they can turn to, to ask before they act. I
think that could be--you know, it could be a grandchild for one
family member, or it could be a child or I would say a spouse,
but I think in that case, I would like to go another
generation. Having someone that you have confidence in. If in
fact there is a crisis that needs to be addressed, they should
be involved in that process. Urgency should not take over when
it comes to being responsible in the actions you are taking,
especially with your finances, so that you don't become a
victim.
Chairman Scott. Yes.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Chairman. I totally agree and just
would add, I think one of the things that is important for not
only our grandparents to know, but for us to recognize is that
there is an unconditional love and trust that allows somebody
to disclose something that could be embarrassing because I
think one of the things that--and we have talked about it, and
I know you have talked about this in past hearings--that one of
the things that we really have to battle is the culture of
silence around frauds and scams.
If we make sure that a grandparent who comes to us and
says, I lost some money to a scammer, feels supported that they
got scammed by a bad person who needs to be pursued and brought
to justice rather than, oh, maybe you shouldn't be in control
of your finances anymore. That loss of independence is such a
fear point for many older adults that they won't have that
conversation. We have got to get over that.
Chairman Scott. We have been told you have to move out of
the house or----
Mr. Johnson. Yes, I mean, we--yes, exactly. We have got to
be able to help create a culture in which it is okay to say
there is something suspicious going on to your trusted family,
and I need your help.
Chairman Scott. Kathy? I like your idea about the passcode.
Ms. Kraninger. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Yes.
Ms. Kraninger. It is definitely a key. I mean, having the
family password and having the trusted contact is absolutely
huge. I will say a good reminder and the prevalence of all of
these things is don't engage and don't click, you know? You may
actually answer that phone call, which I guess is fine because,
you know, you have someone you are expecting to hear from, but
the "don't engage and don't click" is definitely the--you know,
hang up. If you think it is something real, call the number you
have. Don't call the number, you know, or don't engage with the
person who has called you, and definitely don't click on
whatever it is. Again, go to the email address you have. You
know, contact the person via that mode is something I would
add, but the first two are huge.
Chairman Scott. Yes, that is right. They tried to use a--to
a family member, they just changed one digit of the email to
try to get at somebody to do that.
Ms. Kraninger. Yes, I mean, it is endless. The last thing,
I am getting three a day, and we are trying to figure out how
to deal with them because they are coming from my email
address, spoof my email address, but it is voicemails.
Chairman Scott. Yes.
Ms. Kraninger. We got a new phone system, and somehow--I
don't know how they knew that, but the timing was perfect. We
had a new phone system, and now I am getting these voicemails
emailed to me, which is a service that exists, but it is not
one that we subscribed to.
Chairman Scott. Do you think people should answer numbers
that are not in their phone?
Ms. Kraninger. Yes, I mean, I will admit I am guilty of it
sometimes, and I am glad I do, because sometimes it is, for
example, somebody in your office that I don't know, and it is a
202 number, answer it, but I do think that is that is--for each
person, again, if they are expecting or not expecting it, but I
will admit I answer those calls, but definitely it is a better
idea to let them leave a voicemail or text you before.
Chairman Scott. Yes. Brandy, what is one thing that for
sure everybody should do?
Ms. Bauer. Read your medical bills and statements, and I am
guilty of not doing this myself and working in the Medicare
fraud space. I can attest to----
Chairman Scott. Your credit card statements----
Ms. Bauer. Yes.
Chairman Scott [continuing]. all those bills.
Ms. Kraninger. Yes.
Ms. Bauer. Revise your statements. I mean, we have heard
across the country from your constituents as well. Medicare is
a very important program for Americans.
Chairman Scott. Right.
Ms. Bauer. We all want it to be here for the future, but in
order to ensure that, we need to make sure that we are
protecting it on all levels, and so scrutinizing those,
reporting anything that is suspicious, it costs you nothing to
report it.
Chairman Scott. Okay. For each of you, is there anything
that Congress or, since we are in Florida, state government
should do that we are not doing? Is there anything that you
guys think that we ought to be doing that we are not? Let's
start with the sheriff.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. Well, I think that having the
conversations--I think Jeff mentioned it early on that we here
at the local level identify some of those concerns maybe a lot
sooner than it gets at the federal level, but having that power
come down from the federal level, down is also very helpful. I
think maintaining conversations, such as the one we are having
today, listening at the local level when it comes to how you
are going to legislate in the future, and obviously, help us
with the resources. As law enforcement, I am going to advocate
for resources support all the time. We need at our local level
but----
Chairman Scott. And coordination.
Ms. Cordero-Stutz. And coordination, absolutely. Thank you.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you for asking that question, Mr.
Chairman. AARP is a nonpartisan advocacy organization, and, as
you know, we always have a laundry list of potential bipartisan
bills that could move forward at some point along the way, but
I have to say--and both the sheriff and Brandy mentioned this--
the Older Americans Act reauthorization is critical. When we
talk about the loneliness and isolation that people experience
in older adulthood, OAA, among the many things it does, helps
address that, and I appreciate you championing the
reauthorization of that.
Chairman Scott. I would be shocked if it doesn't happen.
Mr. Johnson. Good.
Chairman Scott. It is not very functional right now. Do you
see that?
Mr. Johnson. Yes.
Chairman Scott. Other than that----
Mr. Johnson. Right. Other than that, exactly.
Ms. Kraninger. Yes, building on the coordination, Senator,
is definitely one of the things that we want to see happen in
that information sharing in particular, and that is why we are
advocating for that financial crime intelligence center, and
there is a lot of work to do on how that looks, you know, in
Florida and how it should look. It is going to be different
than Texas, but it gives the mechanism to pull up the local
information that is unfortunately too scattershot. It is too
many, you know, points, and they can't connect until you pull
them at the state level, and then you have the opportunity to
interact better with the Federal Government with the things
that they are seeing, and so it is a good locus in my
experience and a lot of the things around fusion centers that
have worked.
I think the one thing that the Attorney General's Office is
saying is, let's make sure we actually prosecute those crimes
then, and that is a huge connection point. I am hopeful that we
can do something like that at the state level that is a model
and that, you know, with banks and telecommunications companies
getting, you know, feeds from that too in terms of actionable
information so that is a two-way street, but that is an
exciting thing I think that we are looking to really get more,
you know, support around.
Chairman Scott. Brandy?
Ms. Bauer. As somebody who works in the aging space, I just
want to thank you and the bipartisan Senate Aging Committee.
Really you have been on the forefront of advocating for older
adults for the programs that support them and the Older
Americans Act. I think, you know, to echo my colleagues here,
the Older Americans Act supports so many things in communities
that put eyes and ears on the ground that can help protect
people from fraud.
Chairman Scott. Well, I want to thank everyone for being
here today and participating, and I look forward to continuing
to work with community leaders on the frontlines of this
important issue to make sure we are empowering and protecting
our seniors. I mean, it has impacted every family, I mean, so I
can just tell you all the stuff we get all the time. We all get
inundated with this stuff, the texts, the emails, the letters,
so we all have to get smarter about it.
Thanks, everybody, for being here.
[Whereupon, at 11:07 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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APPENDIX
=======================================================================
Prepared Witness Statements
=======================================================================
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
"Protecting Florida's Seniors: Fighting Fraud and Financial
Exploitation"
August 7, 2025
Prepared Witness Statements
Hon. Rosie Cordero-Stutz
Good morning Chairman, distinguished panelists, and
everyone present. Welcome to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's office.
This is your home. Thank you, Chairman Rick Scott, for your
leadership and continued commitment to protecting America's
seniors. It's an honor to stand beside you in this critical
fight.
Florida is home to one of the largest senior populations in
the country, and here in Miami-Dade County, we're proud of the
enormous value our older residents bring to our families, our
neighborhoods, and our history, but as Chairman Scott has long
understood, our seniors also face growing threats from scams,
abuse, and financial exploitation. Those threats are only
becoming more sophisticated.
Since taking office in January, I made a promise to our
residents: to do everything in my power to protect our elderly
population from harm. That's why I launched a set of online
tools to make it easier for people to report fraud and abuse.
I've said it before and I'll say it again-these deceptive
schemes can cause life-changing harm, but awareness and
prevention can make all the difference.
Chairman Scott's work on the U.S. Senate Special Committee
on Aging is a beacon of leadership. His dedication through the
TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and
Deterrence) and pushing for the reauthorization of the Older
Americans Act shows his deep understanding that protecting
seniors is not just a policy priority, it's a moral
responsibility. Chairman Scott has reminded us that more than
10 million Americans benefited from the Older Americans Act
program last year. That includes meal delivery, transportation,
and day services. Those programs provide much needed support to
the elderly. Through visitations, workers can detect signs of
abuse or neglect.
At the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, our Cyber Crimes Bureau
and Economic Crimes Section are working around the clock. From
AI-generated scams to cryptocurrency theft and robocalls
threatening arrest, these crimes are devastating. Retirement
funds are wiped out, victims are saddled with debt, and many
are left feeling embarrassed, isolated, and afraid.
Our Cyber Crimes Bureau is staffed with highly trained
investigators who are leading the charge working with
cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe, including in
countries where treaties fall short, to recover stolen funds.
We've seen scammers use AI scripts to generate fake websites
and realistic investment dashboards. They prey on our seniors
through messaging apps, removing human interaction and making
detection harder.
That's why timeliness matters. The faster scams are
reported, the better our chances of stopping them before they
vanish and reappear under a new name.
We will continue to strengthen interagency collaboration.
That means stronger ties with federal partners like the FBI,
Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation.
We must not forget the growing threat of Condo and HOA
fraud occurring right here in our backyard, a quiet crisis
disproportionately affecting our elderly homeowners. One of my
first actions as Sheriff was to set up a hotline, and an email
address, for people to call if they suspect public or HOA
corruption. Elderly residents are particularly vulnerable to
fraud schemes involving unauthorized assessments, embezzlement,
or falsified records. These crimes often go unreported or
under-investigated due to the complexity of association
governance and legal frameworks.
We're working with state regulators to detect fraud in
these associations and protect the rights of vulnerable
residents. Preventing fraud begins with education, as many
homeowners are unaware of their rights. We have a public
outreach initiative to empower residents and will continue to
do so.
To our residents: don't share your Social Security number
or banking info over the phone. Hang up on suspicious callers.
The level of sophistication with regard to such scams is
increasing. If you get a call from a relative or friend and
they tell you to send them money immediately, verify it by
calling them back on a trusted number. Never let urgency
override common sense.
To our agencies and partners: let's keep pushing. Let's
coordinate more, train more, and share more. Because in a
perfect world, every senior in our community should live safe,
supported, and scam-free.
Thank you and thank you again, Chairman Scott, for standing
with us in this mission.
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
"Protecting Florida's Seniors: Fighting Fraud and Financial
Exploitation"
August 7, 2025
Prepared Witness Statements
Jeff Johnson
Chairman Scott thank you for inviting AARP to testify
today. My name is Jeff Johnson, and I am the State Director for
AARP Florida. AARP advocates for the more than 100 million
Americans age 50 and older, including 10 million Floridians.
AARP is very grateful to the Committee for their work
examining the growing threat of scams and financial fraud
targeting older Americans and exploring community, state, and
federal strategies to prevent exploitation. This Congress, the
Committee has held a number of important hearings, including
one last week on Combating Elder Abuse & Neglect. We are very
grateful for your efforts to highlight the issues that matter
most to older Americans. We also appreciate the Committee's
work to spotlight financial literacy and fraud prevention
efforts, including the Committee's 2025 Fraud Report and the
Chairman's Financial Literacy Report.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony at
today's hearing about preventing scams and strengthening
financial security - which is at the heart of who we are and
what we do at AARP. AARP has long worked to educate consumers,
support financial exploitation victims, and improve financial
exploitation detection and prevention across industries, and we
look forward to continuing to work with you towards policy
solutions to prevent exploitation and protect victims.
Fraud in America is at crisis levels. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation's (FBI) numbers show a dramatic increase from the
$800 million in fraud losses in 2014, to 2024, when hardworking
Americans had $16.6 billion stolen from them. This is almost a
2000 percent increase in fraud losses over the past decade.
Floridians reported the theft of over $1 billion from fraud in
2024 - over a third of which (nearly $400 million) was stolen
from adults aged 60 and older, and that is likely a very low
estimate. In a 2024 report, the FTC estimated the true overall
2023 fraud losses, adjusted for underreporting, was $158.3
billion for consumers of all ages and $61.5 billion for older
adults.
Transnational organized crime groups are operating openly
abroad, siphoning hard-earned money out of our local
communities and economies. This is money that older adults had
saved for their retirement - to spend on their hobbies, on
travel, on their grandchildren - and instead it is lining the
pockets of criminals abroad, and because of vast under-
reporting, this is likely a small percentage of actual losses.
An AARP study in 2021 estimated 9 in 10 Americans encountered a
fraud attempt, and 1 in 7 had money stolen from them in 2020
alone. Given the significant and steady increase we've seen in
fraud year after year, we can extrapolate that even more
Americans are likely to report losing money to scams now in
2025.
According to FBI data, older adults reported higher losses
than younger adults in 2024, with an average loss of $83,000
for those age 60-plus reporting a fraud loss, compared to
$19,000 for all ages. Older adults are often targeted by
criminals because they have more money - they have had a longer
time to accumulate savings and are therefore appealing targets
for criminals. These losses can have significant impacts on the
financial security of older Americans, as they are often living
on fixed incomes and can scarcely afford to lose funds to
criminals, and older Americans aren't just losing their
retirement savings from fraud - in some cases they're even
losing their homes.
Just last month, AARP's Fraud Watch Network Helpline
received a report from Edward\1\, a Florida man in his sixties
who had the entire proceeds from the sale of his home stolen by
cybercriminals - more than $400,000 in total. Scammers were
able to access and drain the man's bank account before he was
able to secure new housing. With all his money gone, this older
Floridian went from cashing in on his primary investment (his
home) and securing affordable housing to facing the threat of
homelessness in a matter of seconds.
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\1\1A **Victim names have been changed for privacy reasons.
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Victims come from diverse backgrounds - criminals do not
discriminate when it comes to targeting potential victims.
AARP's Fraud Watch Helpline has made clear to us that fraud
happens to everyone - it does not matter a victims' age, their
income level, where they live, or what level of education they
have. Everyone is susceptible to fraud.
For many fraud victims, the financial toll is only part of
the story; research shows nearly 2 in 3 victims suffer a
significant health or emotional impact. This is only worsened
by the stigma and victim-blaming associated with fraud. While
our society treats many victims of other crimes with
compassion, we tend to place responsibility on the victims of
fraud who "fell for" a scam - blaming victims for not being
smart enough or paying close enough attention in the first
place.
The reality is that the criminals who carry out these scams
have professionalized their industry - they are experts at
convincing people to send them money via a plethora of
different and constantly evolving scams. Given the increasingly
sophisticated nature of scams through the use of advanced
technologies it is unsurprising that these criminals are also
becoming increasingly successful in committing fraud.
Not only does victim-blaming and the stigma associated with
fraud have a profound and devastating impact on victims, it
also discourages victims from reporting fraud, which prevents
us from identifying the true scope of this crisis. It is vital
that we change the narrative on fraud victimization. AARP has
conducted extensive research and developed resources to help
educate professionals on the importance of the language we use
when working with victims. For example, when we say, "criminals
stole [the victim's] money" instead of describing the victim as
having "lost money to a fraudster," clearly places the
responsibility of the crime where it should be - on the
criminal, not the victim.
Addressing fraud prevention is a top priority for AARP and
has been for many years. In my testimony, I would like to share
some of the initiatives that AARP has worked on in this space,
including the Fraud Watch Network Helpline, as well as to
describe the work we have done here in Florida by educating
consumers about fraud and scams, as well as advocating for
resources and policies that support victims of fraud and assist
law enforcement with investigating and prosecuting
perpetrators.
AARP's Fraud Prevention Work
While this fraud awareness and prevention has always been a
priority for AARP, our fraud prevention work has grown over
time as we have increasingly heard from our members that fraud
is a top concern for them and their financial security. The
AARP Fraud Watch Network was created in 2013, and our fraud
prevention work through our state offices has grown
significantly in recent years, including here in Florida.
AARP works with victims of fraud through our Fraud Watch
Network, which offers resources to arm consumers with the
knowledge needed to spot and avoid scams. The Fraud Watch
Network Helpline is a free resource available to people of any
age; you do not have to be an AARP member to use the service.
In 2024, the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline fielded over
100,000 calls from concerned Americans reporting attempted
frauds and scams, as well as those recounting their traumatic
experiences of fraud victimization, and the theft of their
personal information and/or finances.
For example, just law month, Roger, an 85-year-old
Floridian, called the Helpline to share his experience. Roger
had over $150,000 stolen from him in a tech support scam. A
criminal called him, posing as Apple, and told him the only way
"to protect" his money from hackers was to convert and send his
money in gold. Another Floridian, Carlos, who is in his 70s,
was defrauded by a friend he made in his senior exercise class.
This "friend" appears to be part of a network that stole more
than $650,000 from the man. Unfortunately, there are many more
stories just like these. In June of this year, the Helpline
received multiple reports from seniors who had formed
friendships and romances online with criminals who stole over
$100,000 in each case. These are just a few of the many, many
devastating stories our Fraud Watch Network Helpline staff and
volunteers hear from Floridians every year.
AARP provides extensive community outreach through the
Fraud Watch Network and our 53 AARP state offices. We hold
events in communities to raise awareness about different types
of fraud and scams. We also partner with law enforcement,
regulatory agencies, and Attorneys General to host webinars,
tele-townhalls, trainings, and other fraud prevention and
awareness events. We have more than 800 volunteers nationwide
who deliver fraud education in their communities and work
directly with victims of fraud. Each year we reach hundreds of
thousands of AARP members and non-members alike from coast to
coast with our locally driven outreach efforts.
AARP has a Fraud Resource Center and writes extensively
about fraud in the AARP Magazine and AARP Bulletin. Articles
and resources include recent fraud news, information about
common scams, trends in fraud, and how to recognize and avoid
common scams, as well as resources to assist victims of fraud
and their families when they encounter scams. We also have
videos that break down how scams work and how to keep yourself
safe from criminals. Recent articles have included, "3 Key
Things to Know About Scams in 2025" and "I Never Thought My Dad
Would Become a Romance Scam Victim. Don't Make My Mistake" and
"SIM Swapping: Scammers Hijack Smartphones and Steal
Thousands". These publications reach millions of Americans and
fraud-related articles are some of our most-read and well-
received - an indication of how worried our members are about
fraud.
AARP launched a weekly podcast called The Perfect Scam in
2019 to highlight the different types of fraud and scams that
we were hearing about from our members and callers to the Fraud
Watch Network Helpline. Our host introduces listeners to those
who have experienced scams firsthand, as well as leading
experts who pull back the curtain on how scammers operate. In
December 2023, the New York Times highlighted the scam podcast
as a top resource to "deepen your understanding of how liars
and con artists operate." Recent episodes have focused on
credit card scams, rental scams, gold bar scams, pet scams,
charity scams, time share scams, arrest warrant scams, military
benefit scams, romance scams, and job posting scams, among many
others. Most of these stories come directly from victims we
have worked with on the Helpline who want to share their story
to help others avoid similar experiences.
The AARP Fraud Watch Network has also developed a free
program to provide emotional support to fraud victims and their
friends and relatives. AARP's Fraud Victim Support Group
provides individuals with an online forum to meet and interact
with others who have experienced similar events. Our sessions
are a safe environment to give and receive valuable feedback
and support from others who are on the road to emotional
healing and recovery. Group sessions are confidential and led
by trained facilitators who offer fraud education and
understanding to participants, as well as time for meaningful
peer-to-peer sharing and support. Participants don't have to be
the primary victim of a fraud to participate- family members,
partners or friends of a fraud victim are welcome and
encouraged to participate. Experiencing fraud can be
devastating, and these types of safe spaces can be very
valuable to victims and their loved ones in processing and
recovering from the trauma it causes.
AARP also runs a program called BankSafe, which trains
employees at financial institutions to detect fraud and
financial exploitation. BankSafe works with the financial
services industry to help them stop financial exploitation
before the money leaves customers' accounts. The program
encourages those in the financial services industry to
voluntarily adopt research-proven interventions, policies, and
procedures that effectively prevent exploitation. Researchers
from the Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology have studied the
impact of training bank and credit union staff to spot and
prevent financial exploitation. In 2018, a Virginia Tech study
with over 2,000 frontline employees in 11 states (including
Minnesota and Vermont) found that employees who took the
BankSafe training saved 16 times more money than those without
the training. Based on these findings, we estimate that
BankSafe policies, interventions, and procedures have, to date,
prevented more than $450 million from being stolen from
consumers.
In addition to our fraud prevention awareness, industry
collaboration, and victim support services, AARP conducts
research on fraud to inform our work and the public at large.
According to a 2025 AARP survey on the Fraud Crisis in America
that surveyed American adults (those 18 and older), adults of
all ages worry greatly about fraud (37 percent), but this fear
is even more pronounced among adults ages 50+ (44 percent). The
survey also demonstrated that people continue certain behaviors
that put them at a higher risk of becoming the victim of fraud.
For example, while most adults reported that they rarely or
never answer unknown phone calls, texts, or friend requests,
over a third of adults (36%) reported that they usually or
always answer one or more of these unknown communications. The
survey also looked at how adults were maintaining the security
of their devices and online accounts, including the use of VPNs
and two-factor authentication, downloading free apps and/or
taking online quizzes on social media, and using different
passwords on all accounts.
AARP's comprehensive approach to fraud prevention-spanning
education, advocacy, direct support, and industry
collaboration-demonstrates our steadfast commitment to
safeguarding the financial well-being and peace of mind of
older Americans. Through continued community engagement, we can
work to ensure that everyone is equipped to recognize, resist,
and recover from scams-protecting not only personal assets, but
also restoring trust and security across our communities.
AARP's Work to Educate Florida Consumers About Fraud
Here in Florida, AARP is also investing in educating
consumers about the scams and frauds we're seeing across the
state, as well as providing Floridians with the easy-to-access
resources they need to report and respond to fraud when it
occurs. We've created a unique online Florida Fraud Resource
Center (AARP.org/FLFraud) that acts as a one-stop shop for
Florida-specific fraud resources, providing consumers with
comprehensive guidance on how and where to report fraud and
exploitation at the local, state, and federal levels -
information that can take hours to research when you don't know
where to start.
Another resource you'll find through our virtual fraud
resource center is a digital library of free, easy to download
and print one-pagers on the scams that are most frequently
impacting Floridians - which, once again, provides consumers
with clear guidance on how and where to report the many
different types of fraud in Florida. These resources were
created by AARP's Florida fraud prevention team with Florida
law enforcement in mind - drafted with suggestions and input
from law enforcement partners like the Florida Sheriff's
Association, then promoted and shared with law enforcement
across the state for broad use and dissemination in their
communities and on the front lines.
We're working closely with state and local law enforcement
partners to increase Floridians' awareness and utilization of
some of the great fraud prevention resources currently being
offered by these agencies, as well as to encourage the adoption
of best practices and implementation of similar programs by law
enforcement agencies statewide. For example, our team recently
showcased the SafetyNet program of the Walton County Sherriff's
Office, which offers isolated residents in the Florida
Panhandle with a life-line - social connection through the
sheriff's office that provides meaningful health and safety
protections, while reducing residents' risk for potentially
devastating cases of fraud and exploitation too often caused
and/or concealed by social isolation.
AARP also works to educate older Americans about fraud and
scams through our network of state volunteers and staff across
the country, especially here in Florida. We host practical
fraud prevention events in communities across the state,
including shred events that allow residents to safely dispose
of sensitive information that might otherwise fall into the
hands of fraudsters. Often, these events are paired with
educational seminars and trainings, which are sometimes led by
AARP Florida volunteers or held in conjunction with fraud
prevention experts and professionals. Within the past year,
AARP hosted two different Fraud Prevention Summits in
partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice here in Florida
- one in The Villages, a retirement community spanning across
three counties in Central Florida, which boasts a median
population age of 73.6, and one in another major 55-plus
community in Southeast Florida.
AARP also recognizes the needs and availability of older
adults are varied, and our membership includes full-time
working professionals and family caregivers who may be unable
to attend an in-person event. This is why AARP leverages
technology to keep Floridians educated on the latest scams
through the use of virtual webinars and teletown halls,
expanding educational opportunities and making fraud education
accessible for everyone. We've also embraced and harnessed the
wide appeal of AARP's social media channels to regularly
promote fraud prevention messaging, like through our Fraud
Focus Friday posts here in Florida, which we utilize to share
key fraud prevention tips and resources.
AARP's State-Level Fraud Prevention Advocacy Work
AARP works actively across the states - including here in
Florida - to protect consumers-especially older Americans-from
fraud and scams. Through advocacy and collaboration, AARP has
supported state laws and regulations tackling real estate
scams, cryptocurrency kiosk fraud, suspicious financial
transactions, and gift card fraud, providing model policies and
practical protections that strengthen safeguards for consumers
at the state level.
Preventing real estate scams
Thirty states enacted legislation against the predatory
practice of unscrupulous real estate brokers who misled
homeowners into signing decades-long agreements that gave the
brokers the exclusive right to sell the homes. The bills
enacted in these states are based on a model bill designed by
AARP and other national stakeholders. It prohibits service
agreements of more than one year, makes the agreements
nonrecordable in the deed or property record, and blocks liens
or encumbrances associated with the land. It also prohibits
locking homeowners into exclusive long-term real estate listing
agreements and imposes penalties on brokers who do so. (Learn
more on this episode of AARP's The Perfect Scam podcast.)
I'm proud to say that Florida was among the first states to
combat this issue through both the timely enactment of state
legislation and the civil enforcement sought by former Florida
Attorney General and current U.S. Senator Ashley Moody against
these predatory businesses.
Preventing cryptocurrency kiosk scams
AARP is advocating across the country for important
consumer protections that will deter criminals from leveraging
cryptocurrency kiosks, also referred to as Bitcoin ATMs, in
their schemes. AARP's Fraud Watch Network has seen a dramatic
increase in the number of fraud victims being directed to send
funds via cryptocurrency kiosks. Providing essential consumer
protection standards for cryptocurrency kiosks will prevent
older Americans from losing their hard-earned money to
criminals. Minimum standards include requiring money
transmitter licensing of cryptocurrency kiosk operators in the
state, implementing daily transaction limits to reduce fraud
dollar losses to the criminals exploiting these cryptocurrency
kiosks, and mandating refunds to victims of the fraud
facilitated by these machines. Here in Florida, our state
legislature has considered legislation that would offer some
oversight and protection for Floridians with regard to the
nearly 3,000 cryptocurrency kiosks currently operating across
the state -first in 2024 with House Bill 977 and Senate Bill
662 (Virtual Currency Kiosk), and earlier this year with House
Bill 319 and Senate Bill 292 (Virtual Currency Kiosk). While
these bills have not yet crossed the finish line in the Florida
Legislature, it has been encouraging to see Florida city and
county governments step into the gap. Several local governments
are considering locally regulating these machines to protect
their residents, often at the urging of law enforcement leaders
in those communities.
Enabling financial institutions to hold suspicious
transactions
One of the most pressing challenges across the states is
the lack of clear, consistent guidance around the reporting and
holding of suspicious transactions. "Report and hold" laws
allow financial institutions to delay or refuse transactions
when they suspect financial exploitation, giving time to
intervene before money is irreversibly lost. Research from
Virginia Tech has shown that even brief delays can
significantly reduce harm, especially when the victim is
already in a heightened "fight-or-flight" state and may not be
capable of rational decision-making. However, while these laws
are effective, especially when used by broker-dealers who are
federally permitted to act under them, a regulatory gap
remains. Banks and credit unions, primary depository
institutions, are generally barred from using these tools
unless their individual states have explicitly passed laws
allowing it. This is due in part to the limitations imposed by
federal Regulation CC (enacted in 1989), which governs funds
availability and does not provide carve-outs for suspected
fraud. As a result, the institutions best positioned to stop
real-time exploitation often lack the legal authority to do so,
despite clear evidence that the intervention works. In a recent
report from the American Bankers Association, nearly 90% of
banks located in states that do not have the power to hold
suspicious transactions would find it helpful to have that
ability.
AARP has worked on model state legislation to enable
securities and investment firms to hold transactions that are
suspected to be related to fraud and financial exploitation for
a short period of time while there is an investigation ("report
and hold" laws). Almost all states have passed this or a
similar law, and roughly half of the states have also applied
this model to banks and credit unions. Congress could consider
a federal law to enable financial institutions to hold
suspicious transactions while they investigate them further. In
2024, here in Florida, AARP worked with stakeholders like the
Florida Bankers Association to pass Senate Bill 556 (Protection
of Specified Adults), which now authorizes Florida banks and
credit unions to temporarily delay transactions reasonably
believed to involve the exploitation of older and vulnerable
Floridians under specified conditions.
Preventing gift card fraudWith AARP's help, ten states this
year have enacted legislation advancing legislation aimed at
curbing gift card fraud. Criminals use gift cards in their
fraudulent activity through collecting the information directly
from the victim or tampering with the card so they can steal
its value. To help curtail gift card scams, AARP's state
offices have helped pass comprehensive legislation requiring
stores where gift cards are sold to post a notice alerting
customers to protect themselves from gift card scams and what
to do if they are the victims of this scam, staff training,
secure packaging, and record keeping. This year, AARP had the
opportunity to support Senate Bill 1198 (Fraudulent Use of Gift
Cards) here in Florida, which provides much needed clarity to
law enforcement and prosecutors on charging criminals in cases
involving fraud or theft through gift cards, as well as
enhanced penalties for criminals with prior related
convictions.
Innovative elder justice work
AARP recognizes that all forms of elder abuse, including
financial exploitation and fraud, are often hidden and
challenging to detect or identify, which is why AARP supports
policies that aid in the earlier detection of, and intervention
in, elder abuse cases. Here in Florida, AARP had the
opportunity to support two innovative elder justice-focused
bills that I'd like to highlight.
In 2018, AARP supported legislation introduced by elder
justice stakeholders creating a first of its kind injunction
for protection against the exploitation of vulnerable adults in
Florida (House Bill 1059). This unique resource was inspired by
and modeled after similar long-standing resources available to
victims of domestic violence in Florida. Since the creation of
this exploitation injunction resource in 2018, AARP has
continued working with stakeholders to expand and improve this
injunction resource as to its application and capabilities in
combatting elder fraud and exploitation - amending and
improving Florida Statute 825.1035 in 2021, 2023,
2024, and again this year. Thanks to the most recent
legislation in 2025 (Senate Bill 106), Florida qualifying
victims of financial exploitation and fraud can now avail
themselves of the protections offered by the exploitation
injunction process in cases where the perpetrator attempts to
conceal his or her identity and whereabouts by using social
media, messaging applications, email, or phone calls and texts
to carry out the crime.
AARP's recent elder abuse advocacy efforts also extend to
our work on House Bill 1540 in 2023, where we advocated
alongside law enforcement and prosecution partners from
Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit to protect and preserve the
important work of the first-ever elder abuse fatality review
team in the state. We recognized the critical need for elder
abuse fatality review teams in cases of abuse, neglect, and
exploitation resulting in the death of vulnerable adults in
Florida, as well as the significance of findings and
recommendations from teams like these in crafting meaningful
elder abuse policies and resources at the local, state, and
federal levels.
AARP's Federal Fraud Prevention Advocacy Work
AARP has also endorsed a number of pieces of federal
legislation in the fraud prevention space. These bills aim to
strengthen protections for consumers, especially older
Americans, against various forms of fraud and financial
exploitation. They propose measures such as providing resources
to law enforcement, giving victims tax relief, increasing
transparency in communications, enhancing oversight of
financial products and services, and raising public awareness
about scams and identity theft. Collectively, the legislation
would empower agencies and consumers, close regulatory gaps,
and implement new safeguards to help prevent criminals from
targeting vulnerable individuals.
* AARP endorsed S. 2544/H.R. 2978, the GUARD Act, which
Chairman Scott has championed. This bipartisan legislation
would provide state and local law enforcement with federal
grants to allow them to hire and train staff and secure
specialized software and other tools to improve their capacity
to conduct fraud investigations. This will ensure law
enforcement has the tools they need to lock up the criminals
who victimize older Americans.
* AARP endorsed S.1773/H.R.3429, the Tax Relief for Victims
of Crimes, Scams, and Disasters Act. This legislation would
reinstate the casualty and theft loss deduction, better
ensuring fraud victims don't have to pay taxes on stolen funds.
Currently, if you have money stolen from retirement or other
taxable accounts, the IRS may tax you on money you already lost
to criminals. This legislation will help end the injustice
currently written into the tax code by allowing victims to
deduct the amounts stolen from them on their taxes.
* AARP endorsed H.R. 1027, the Quashing Unwanted and
Interruptive Electronic Telecommunications (QUIET) Act. The
QUIET Act mandates transparency from robocallers, requiring
them to disclose upfront when artificial intelligence is used
to imitate human voices in calls or text messages.
Additionally, the legislation doubles financial penalties for
those who use AI to impersonate individuals, commit fraud, or
obtain valuables under false pretenses.
* AARP endorsed H.R. 1469, the Senior Security Act of 2025,
which would help combat financial exploitation by creating an
interdivisional task force at the Securities and Exchange
Commission to examine and identify challenges that older people
face while investing. The bill would also require the
Government Accountability Office to study and report on the
economic costs of the financial abuse of older Americans.
* AARP endorsed S.1699, the Artificial Intelligence Public
Awareness and Education Campaign Act, which would launch a
comprehensive public awareness, education, and consumer
literacy campaign to educate consumers about the prevalence of
AI in their daily lives. Empowering older Americans with this
information will not only help protect against fraud and abuse
but also inform them of AI's positive potential to assist with
daily tasks.
* AARP endorsed S.1666, the Improving Social Security's
Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act. This legislation
would streamline and improve the assistance provided by the
Social Security Administration to individuals whose Social
Security number has been stolen or misused. Identity theft and
fraud are at an all-time high in the United States, and the
range of fraud that can be committed with a stolen Social
Security number is truly staggering.
* AARP endorsed S.2019, the Taskforce for Recognizing and
Averting Payment Scams Act (TRAPS Act), which aims to protect
older Americans from financial scams. This legislation would
create a task force to combat digital payment scams. The task
force - composed of financial regulators, institutions, and
consumer advocates - would analyze fraud trends and develop
strategies to enhance protections.
* AARP endorsed H.R.1734/S.2117 the Preventing Deep Fake
Scams Act. This bipartisan legislation will establish a
dedicated task force on AI in financial services that would
include representatives from key financial services regulatory
agencies, financial institutions, third-party vendors, and AI
experts to explore the use of AI in the financial sector to
commit and detect fraud.
* AARP endorsedH.R.40*R.2808/S.1467, the Homebuyers Privacy
Protection Act. This bipartisan legislation takes important
steps to protect older Americans - who make up more than 75
percent of U.S. homeowners - from misleading and fraudulent
solicitations during home transactions. By requiring consumers
to opt in before their credit inquiry data can be sold and
limiting the use of mortgage "trigger leads," the bill helps
prevent scams that exploit major life events like buying or
selling a home.
* AARP endorsed H.R. 40*R.306, the Ending Scam Credit
Repair Act, or "ESCRA." This bill would address issues in the
credit repair industry. Credit repair organizations (CROs)
often exploit customers by falsely promising that they can
repair a consumer's credit score. ESCRA would introduce new
rules to shield consumers from misleading and fraudulent
practices.
Conclusion
Addressing fraud requires more than piecemeal solutions; it
demands a whole-of-society approach. We cannot educate our way
out of the fraud crisis. Industry cannot mitigate and engineer
our way out of it. Policymakers cannot regulate our way out of
it, and law enforcement cannot arrest our way out of it, but,
together, educators, policymakers, law enforcement and industry
can turn the tide against the vicious criminals who hold the
power right now. Together, we can disrupt their business model,
protect millions of consumers, and safeguard billions of
dollars in savings and retirement accounts and in our economy.
I am proud to say that, even though there is much work to
do, Florida is an example of what this type of comprehensive
approach could look like. AARP Florida is working directly and
through diverse partnerships to provide real-time education and
support to our neighbors who are at risk of being scammed. We
also are working with policymakers at all levels of government
to improve laws and regulations to protect consumers and
prosecute fraudsters, and we work with law enforcement agencies
across the state that have identified the dramatic scope and
impact of senior fraud on their communities and are striving to
fight back. There is much more work to do, but we all recognize
the importance of this issue, which is the first step toward
turning the tide.
We thank Chairman Scott and the Committee for bringing
attention to this important issue and look forward to working
with you to turn the tide on criminals committing fraud.
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
"Protecting Florida's Seniors: Fighting Fraud and Financial
Exploitation"
August 7, 2025
Prepared Witness Statements
Hon. Kathy Kraninger
Introduction
Chairman Scott, on behalf of the Florida Bankers
Association (FBA) and our more than 150 member banks operating
in the great state of Florida, I am honored to appear before
you on such a crucial topic. Banks are on the front line of the
fight against fraud, working to protect our customers from
scams, identity theft, and cybercrime. Fraud has become more
complex and more prevalent, impacting individuals, families,
businesses, and communities across Florida and the nation.
While some of the most troubling cases affect the most
vulnerable among us such as older Americans who are the focus
of this Committee, no one is immune from the barrage of
attempts via every mode of communication in our modern society.
It is a game of numbers - the sheer volume and ease of attempts
means more success for the bad guys.
The FBA advocates for a national strategy that will tackle
fraud and scams from all angles, including cutting off
communication channels to targeted victims, bolstering public
education, and ensuring prosecution of criminals. We are
committed to strengthening collaboration among financial
institutions, telecoms, tech companies, law enforcement, and
policymakers, as well as engaging the public, to combat fraud,
enhance consumer protections, and ensure criminals are held
accountable.
The FBA works closely with the American Bankers Association
(ABA) and the Independent Community Bankers Association, both
of which offer services to banks to prevent, identify, and
report fraud as well as advocate for initiatives to counter
fraud and scams.
Defining the Problem: Fraud and Scams are a Pervasive Threat
Fraud is a national crisis, as documented by this
Committee's annual fraud report. In 2024, the FBI's Internet
Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 859,532 complaints, with
potential losses exceeding $16.6 billion. This represents a 2%
decrease in complaints and a 25% increase in losses compared to
2023.\1\
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\1\ https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024--IC3Report.pdf
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Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission, received fraud
reports from 2.6 million consumers last year, similar to 2023,
but the percentage of people who reported losing money jumped
from 27% to 38% in that same one-year period. The most commonly
reported scam category was imposter scams. Losses to government
imposter scams in particular increased $171 million from 2023
to a total of $789 million in 2024.
For the second consecutive year, email was the most common
way that consumers reported being contacted by scammers. Phone
calls were the second most commonly reported contact method for
fraud in 2024, followed by text messages.\2\ Fraudsters are
targeting consumers through increasingly sophisticated
channels, including phishing emails, robocalls, social media
impersonation, and peer-to-peer payment fraud.
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\2\ https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/
new-ftc-data-show-big-jump-reported-losses-fraud-125-billion-2024
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Furthermore, as AI and other technological advancements
evolve, scams will only become more convincing and harder to
identify for the average American, much less the most
vulnerable among us. Older Americans are especially vulnerable-
and Florida, with one of the largest senior populations in the
country, is disproportionately affected. The losses reported by
victims age 60+ went from $3.4 billion in 2023 to $4.8 billion
in 2024 according to the IC3.
From inception, a significant number of cyber scams
originate from other countries, especially from China and
Southeast Asia, as found by the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.\3\ The analysis documents how the Covid-
19 pandemic's lockdowns and strict border controls drove
criminal groups to seek new sources of profit. In particular,
Chinese criminal groups built cyber-scamming compounds where
human trafficking victims, working under threat to their lives,
are coerced to befriend and entice innocent Americans into
fraudulent investment schemes.
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\3\ https://www.csis.org/analysis/cyber-scamming-goes-global-
unveiling-southeast-asias-high-tech-fraud-factories
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Financial institutions are often the last line of defense
in detecting suspicious activity and preventing significant
loss. Our industry is heavily investing in such capabilities,
yet it can be incredibly challenging for bank employees to
convince customers that the activity is suspicious.
The stories are heartbreaking as they unfold in an all-too-
familiar way. The below scam typologies are the most frequently
seen by one of our larger institutions serving Florida.
Furthermore, from this same institution's reporting, one out of
every six elder financial exploitation scams they identify
occurs in Florida.
1. Romance scams where the victim/client sends money to
the perpetrator: The perpetrator insinuates themselves into the
victim's life over time. The perpetrator exploits the victim/
client's loneliness and provides constant communication and
attention. These scammers can operate "in real life" but also
purely online. With the aid of technology, this does not
require much effort on the perpetrator's part. Even where the
client/victim feels used or silly, they fear losing
companionship so they send money. For the bank, it is more
often than not impossible to overcome that emotional
attachment.
2. Confidence investment scams where a victim/client
sends increasing amounts into a phony cryptocurrency platform:
The victim/client believes they are engaging with a legitimate
opportunity because they "created" an account and can "see"
they are making lucrative returns on their investment. How the
victim/client is reeled into the scam could also involve a
romantic element, which adds all the challenges noted in the
first typology. Institutions can have success in overcoming
this scam by getting the victim/client to perform their own
research on what this scam entails and convincing them to try
to withdraw their investment. This scam involves substantial
losses because the withdrawal is often not possible, and then
the scammer disappears.
3. Impersonation scams where bad actors pose as
legitimate companies - often financial institutions - and
assert the victim/client's money is not safe: The perpetrator
preys on the victim/client's fear that they have already been
scammed. The perpetrator will have details about the victim/
client that bolster legitimacy (where you bank, what kind of
car you drive, etc.). The bad actor directs the victim/client
to either wire, transfer or withdraw funds to deposit into a
bitcoin kiosk. Clients don't realize they were scammed until
after they have sent or withdrawn money.
With respect to funds transfer and means of payment, there
is not one particular method that perpetrators particularly
exploit. Scammers tell the victims what to do, and victims
follow that direction. Funds acquired through these scams can
be transferred as cash in shoe box to a Target parking lot; by
wire; by cashier's check; via gift cards purchased by the
victim; via credit card payment; or when a victim sets up a
digital wallet, purchases crypto, and transfers it. While
different means of payment and transfer involve different
opportunities for intervention, the point of payment cannot be
the only opportunity. Efforts to stop these scams should start
much earlier than the point of payment, rather they should
start at the first communication point.
Engaging all Stakeholders in the Fight
A national strategy that attacks fraud from all angles and
stakeholders is key. Where the U.S. problem continues to grow,
we can take lessons from what other countries have done. Take
Australia, for one example, where the government has seen a 25%
decrease in losses reported and 18% decrease in scams reported
in the past year, a decline that builds on the prior year's
decline.\4\ How did they do it?
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\4\ https://www.nasc.gov.au/reports-and-publications/targeting-
scams
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Collaboration among financial institutions, telecoms, tech
companies, law enforcement, and policymakers, as well as
engaging the public, to combat fraud and scams is key. Starting
with the first outreach to potential victims,
telecommunications, technology, and social media companies can
play a pivotal role by blocking scam communications before they
reach consumers. Australia provides one example of how that
could work. The government ingests reported information,
investigates and sends out authoritative information that
allows banks, social media, and telecoms to safely and
efficiently act. In 2024, Australia's National Anti-Scam Centre
referred more than 6,000 non-investment scam URLs for
assessment and takedown, with 92.0% of those subsequently
removed.
While it is mandated in some countries, the U.S. solution
could look different. Companies could offer a "Do Not Contact"
service enabling customers to opt out of calls, texts, and
messages from overseas, as an example. The banking industry has
urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a
database of scam messages - i.e., the text messages that
consumers report through the "report junk" feature on the
iPhone and similar feature on Android devices. This database
would be accessible to banks, law enforcement, and other
legitimate companies, so that these companies can identify
ongoing scams targeting the company's customers and take action
to mitigate the impact.\5\ The banking industry also has been a
leading proponent of other FCC proposals to combat fraud
perpetrated over our telecommunications systems, including the
latest FCC proposal to require caller ID authentication
solutions on non-Internet Protocol (IP) networks - i.e.,
providers of networks that do not rely on the IP for
communication.\6\
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\5\ https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2024/11/stick-it-to-the-
scammers.
\6\ https://www.aba.com/advocacy/policy-analysis/ABA-Urges-FCC-to-
Impose-Call-Authentication-Requirement-for-NonIP-Networks.
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The banking industry has invested significant resources in
tools to identify and stop fraud early. These tools are
necessary to support compliance with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA),
anti-money laundering, countering terrorist financing, and
cybersecurity responsibilities, as well as voluntary efforts to
support our customers and protect our businesses. As a few
examples, banks:
Implement rigorous, risk-based BSA compliance and
antifraud programs to flag when customers have started to send
money in unusual patterns, including to high-risk individuals,
entities, and jurisdictions.
Submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and subscribe to
FinCEN's alert on fraud schemes, which offers tips for filing
SARs.
Deny institutions of primary money laundering concern
access to the U.S. financial system, such as the Cambodian
money laundering Huione Group, in response to section 311
actions by FinCEN.
Ensure bank employees are trained to identify and report
suspicious activity and know what actions to take to protect
customers.
Use the Treasury Department's Treasury Check
Verification System to catch canceled, duplicate, or other
problematic Treasury checks at the time of presentment.
Employ National Automated Clearing House Association's
(Nacha) rules intended to reduce the incidence of frauds, such
as business email compromise, that make use of credit-push
payments, as well as support the ACH Contact Registry.
Utilize the ABA Check Fraud Claim Directory that
maintains contact information for banks needing to file a check
warranty breach claim with another financial institution.
Deploy additional tools like real-time fraud detection
analytics, voice biometrics, and identity verification
platforms that are proving effective in detecting anomalous
behavior and preventing fraud before money is lost.
Where permitted by law and protected from liability, banks
can delay certain transactions when they suspect financial
exploitation of an older or vulnerable person. In 2024, here in
Florida, FBA worked with AARP to pass Senate Bill 556
(Protection of Specified Adults)\7\, which authorizes Florida
banks and credit unions to temporarily delay transactions
reasonably believed to involve the exploitation of older and
vulnerable Floridians under specified conditions. More than
half (54.5%) of bank respondents in states with these "hold"
laws have used them to prevent elder financial exploitation,
according to a recent ABA Foundation survey.\8\ Delays are
helpful in bringing a family member into the conversation or
giving the client the opportunity to stop and think. However,
where the client/victim wants to proceed with a transaction
with their money, the financial institution ultimately has to
do what the client asks.
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\7\ https://laws.flrules.org/2024/200
\8\ https://www.aba.com/news-research/analysis-guides/state-hold-
laws-and-elder-financial-exploitation-survey-report
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In 2025, the FBA worked alongside AARP and others to pass
SB 106\9\ to permit substitute service of process in an
injunction proceeding to protect vulnerable adults against
financial exploitation by an "unascertainable" perpetrator who
has communicated with the vulnerable adult victim by
untraceable means, such as a text message or phone call. The
substituted service must be made by the same manner of
communication that the perpetrator used to contact the
vulnerable adult victim. Upon issuance of a final injunction by
the court after substituted service has been used, a 30-day
freeze on any proposed transfer of funds or property is
initiated.
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\9\ https://laws.flrules.org/2025/158
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That is why consumer education is essential to prevention
of harm. Banks have invested in campaigns like the ABA's "Banks
Never Ask That" and "Practice Safe Checks" initiatives. We
partner with organizations like the AARP and bank regulators
highlighting their messaging and campaigns. We encourage older
Americans to include trusted contacts on their financial
accounts so we can contact those individuals to flag suspicious
activity or to intervene where a customer is being manipulated
by a scammer. We host fraud prevention roundtables and events
at our branches and offices, senior centers, libraries, and
town halls. Talking about these issues is important as so many
victims are embarrassed leading to what experts agree is
underreporting of scams and losses. In fact, the FTC reported
in 2024 that the estimated 2023 overall loss due to scams,
adjusted to account for underreporting, was $158.3 billion.\10\
Further, Bankrate recently found that more than one in three
(34%) Americans experienced some type of financial fraud or
scam in the past year (January 2024-January 2025). The survey
also revealed that 68% of Americans have experienced a
financial scam or fraud in their lifetime.\11\
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\10\ https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc--gov/pdf/paddle-anf-
statement.pdf
\11\ https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/financial-fraud-
survey/
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Partnering with law enforcement at the local, state, and
federal levels is also critical to countering the fraud and
scam crisis our nation faces. Where crimes are reported, as
Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz can attest, they
often present as single incidences below prosecutorial
thresholds. Yet, with the ability to connect dots at the state
and federal levels, the ties to larger, and even transnational,
criminal organizations are clear.
The FBA is working with the Florida Attorney General's
office to explore establishing a Financial Crimes Intelligence
Center or dedicated financial crimes task force like the one
employed in Texas. This effort would build on the great work
already done in Florida with the cyber fraud enforcement unit.
This entity could:
Serve as a hub for investigations of financial crimes in
Florida, connecting what would otherwise be handled as local,
low-level crimes to larger scam rings and organized crime.
Provide fraud-specific data analytics to detect cross-
jurisdiction patterns.
Work with local prosecutors to secure timely
convictions.
Streamline reporting processes across federal and state
agencies.
Support law enforcement with fraud-specific training and
digital forensics capabilities.
Information sharing to further criminal investigations is a
two-way street. Government has comprehensive reporting, whereas
each financial institution only sees its piece of the puzzle.
FinCEN and law enforcement need to feed banks and other
stakeholders actionable, up-to-date information on the
typologies, patterns, and characteristics of the illicit
financial transactions that target consumers. Improving
feedback loops to banks was one of the important reforms
Congress included in the Anti-Money Laundering Act. We are
gratified to see the initiative just announced by Internal
Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) on March 28,
2025 to provide quantifiable results to financial institutions
on IRS-CI's use of SARs, which will include a pilot site in
Florida.
A Call to Action
I have focused on large-scale scams and fraud perpetrated
by organized crime in my testimony. This Committee, however,
knows well that older Americans often fall prey to manipulation
from the very trusted individuals in their lives - friends,
caretakers, family members. Bankers often contend with and
identify these crimes as well.
Fraud is not just a banking problem - it is a societal
threat that requires coordinated action. Florida's bankers are
committed to protecting our customers and communities, but we
cannot do it alone. As part of a comprehensive strategy, we
need action from other sectors and from the government.
We are grateful for the leadership being shown by you,
Chairman Scott, and the Aging Committee members in holding this
hearing and continuing to shine a light on these horrific
scams. Thank you once again for the opportunity to testify. I
look forward to answering your questions.
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
"Protecting Florida's Seniors: Fighting Fraud and Financial
Exploitation"
August 7, 2025
Prepared Witness Statements
Brandy Bauer
Thank you for inviting me here today on behalf of the
Senior Medicare Patrol program. The nation's 54 Senior Medicare
Patrol, or SMP, programs are managed by the U.S. Administration
for Community Living, with the mission to help empower and
assist people to prevent, detect, and report Medicare fraud,
errors, and abuse.
Medicare fraud is a particularly insidious form of
financial scam, because unlike other fraud schemes targeting an
individual, the government and American taxpayers all pay the
price. It's also challenging to detect Medicare fraud in real
time, as there can be weeks or months between when Medicare is
falsely billed for services and when an enrollee sees that
charge show up on their Medicare Summary Notice or plan's
Explanation of Benefits.
The Senior Medicare Patrol program model is one of
prevention. SMPs educate millions of Medicare beneficiaries
each year on how to guard their personal health information,
scrutinize their medical statements and bills, and subsequently
alert the program to any suspicious activity. The SMPs report
cases of possible fraud, errors, and abuse to the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services and HHS Office of Inspector
General, who then take up the investigation.
Here's just one real-life example of how this work plays
out: Recently, a gentleman from Walton County, Florida was
looking at his Medicare Summary Notice and discovered charges
for urinary catheters and glucose monitoring supplies -
equipment that he neither needs nor ever received. He reported
this to the Florida Senior Medicare Patrol, who were able to
help him get a new, uncompromised Medicare number. Yet Medicare
had already paid over $15,000 for these fraudulent charges.
This beneficiary was observant; think how many times this
scenario takes place across Florida and the country and goes
undetected. As such, it's hard to get a concrete calculation of
how much Medicare fraud costs Americans each year, but
estimates put it in the tens of billions of dollars.
Because the Senior Medicare Patrol relies heavily on
trusted volunteers from the community - in many cases, older
adults themselves - the SMP program is often on the forefront
of detecting emerging fraud trends. SMPs were among the first
groups to spot unusual activity around fraudsters offering
COVID-19 test kits in exchange for personal or medical
information. Other emerging schemes the SMPs have helped
identify include genetic testing scams, hospice fraud, and most
recently, schemes related to remote patient monitoring and
wound care. In addition to costing Medicare billions of
dollars, some of these schemes can cause real patient harm,
such as when a person falsely enrolled in hospice may be denied
coverage for services that fall outside of palliative care.
The Senior Medicare Patrol is an Older Americans Act
success story. First authorized under the OAA in 1997, the SMPs
have provided outreach, counseling, and education about
Medicare fraud to millions of older Americans. Since their
creation, expected recoveries to Medicare (and Medicaid)
attributable to the SMPs equals more than $287 million.
Medicare fraud doesn't exist in a vacuum. People vulnerable
to other forms of financial exploitation may be at risk of
unknowingly sharing their medical identity with health
insurance fraudsters. Many of the same prevention strategies we
hear from other sectors are relevant here as well - such an
encouraging people with Medicare to guard their medical
identity just as they would their Social Security or banking
information, hang up on unsolicited calls, and report
suspicious activity to the authorities.
The Senior Medicare Patrol's efforts not only serve to
enhance the financial, physical, and mental well-being of older
adults, but also to preserve the integrity of Medicare. I'd
like to thank the Chairman and Senate Aging Committee for
including our program in this important conversation today.
[all]