In another major move that, if successful, likely prove quite helpful for America’s seniors, the Kash Patel-led Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a new initiative to crack down on scammers who target American senior citizens, claiming that various scams target grandparents who want to protect their kids and grandkids and providing resources to help the elderly protect themselves while the anti-fraud operation is ongoing.
As background, the FBI announcement came just weeks after the DOJ announced that it had caught a massive ring of foreign fraudsters located in the Dominican Republic who had been using the care grandparents have for their grandchildren to steal millions upon millions of dollars by pressuring them into paying out cash to fraudsters in America.
Announcing that operation in a mid-August press statement, the DOJ said, “Thirteen individuals have been charged in connection with a transnational elder fraud scheme that allegedly involved a ‘call center’ operation in the Dominican Republic that tricked hundreds of elderly victims in the United States into believing that their grandchildren or other close family members were in trouble and needed money. In total, the investigation identified over 400 victims with an average age of 84, including at least 50 in Massachusetts, and more than $5 million in losses.”
Commenting on the situation in a statement released via X, Leah B. Foley, the US Attorney for Massachusetts, said, “These scams are not just financially devastating – they are emotionally traumatizing. Many victims lost not only their savings, but their sense of safety, judgment, and trust in the world around them. I am here to say that we’ve had enough. Preying on our elderly is ruthless and immoral. For others committing these types of crimes: we are looking for you, we will find you and we will bring you to justice – no matter where in the world you are located. And to the public listening today: please know that we are here to help protect you. If you believe you have been a victim of this type of scam, please let us know.”
So, with all of that in mind, the FBI took to X on National Grandparents’ Day, September 7, saying, “The FBI is cracking down on scams against seniors. The Grandparent Scam preys on older Americans—taking advantage of their love and concern for their grandchildren. This National Grandparents’ Day, learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Attached to that tweet was a lengthy resource in which the FBI explained to elderly Americans and their families what sort of scams are out there and how they can defend themselves. Beginning, it said, “Each year, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud or confidence scheme, including romance, lottery, and sweepstakes scams—just to name a few.” It later listed dozens of those sorts of scams and how they operate, so the elderly can remain aware.
Adding to that, the statement noted what sort of tactics the fraudsters engage in so that seniors can stay alert for them, writing, “Criminals will gain their targets’ trust and may communicate with them directly online, over the phone, and/or through the mail; or indirectly through the TV and radio. Once successful, scammers often keep a scheme going because of the prospect of significant financial gain.”
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Concluding the introduction by commenting on the reasons for scams targeting seniors and the massive financial losses wrought by them, the FBI then said, Seniors are often targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite. They also usually have financial savings, own a home, and have good credit—all of which make them attractive to scammers . . . With the elderly population growing and seniors racking up more than $3 billion in losses annually, elder fraud has remained a growing problem.”
Watch Jesse Watters expose another scandal the Kash Patel-led FBI recently cracked down on here: