NGRESS’ BATTLE TO PROTECT THE ELDERLY AGAINST FINANCIAL EXPLOTATION—WHERE DO WE GO AND WHERE ARE WE NOW?

By: Alec Fraggos, Law Clerk at Peck Ritchey, LLC 

As complex financial scams continue to grow, protections for the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer's and dementia—remains a significant legal issue. As the American population continues to age at unprecedented rates, those in the working in fields that protect the elderly from financial schemes will need to grapple with this unprecedented growth in the elderly population across the United States. While the medical and legal fields have made strides to protect this vulnerable population, both federal and state legislatures will need to make a pointed effort to address what many deem a public health crisis. This article, albeit brief, aims to address Congressional plans to address this problem along with data that explores the current state of America’s elderly population. Along with these considerations, this article identifies some of the most common forms of scams that target America’s elderly population.  

Long-term planning and mechanisms will be necessary to protect elderly individuals from elder financial exploitation (EFE) as the number of Americans aged 65 and older continues to increase. According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the number of Americans ages  65 and older is “projected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050 (a 47%  increase), and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population is projected to rise from  17% to 23%.”_0F¹ As the medical field continues to make significant strides, the United States’  _{population is “older today than it has ever been.”1F}² What’s more, older adults in the United States have a higher rate of divorce than in previous generations, meaning that older adults are more likely to be living alone, making them more vulnerable to financial scams. The share of divorced women ages 65 and older “increased from 3% in 1980 to 15% in 2023, and for men from 4% to 

_{12% during the same period.”2F}³ With large-scale age demographic shifts, Congress is in the best position to enact legislation that addresses the increase in the 65-and-older population group.  

As EFE continues to garner the attention of Congress, new regulations may be necessary to address these complex financial scams. Elder financial exploitation (EFE) has been defined as _{the “illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets.”3F}⁴ The National Elder Mistreatment Study also found EFE to be “the most common form of elder abuse.”_4F⁵ Estimates calculating losses due to EFE range by source. According to some 2024 data, older adults lose billions of dollars annually to financial exploitation, ranging from “$28.3 to approximately $48.4 _{billion annually.”5F}⁶ Furthermore, the Department of Justice (DOJ) pursued “over 300 enforcement  actions against over 700 defendants charged with stealing nearly $700 million from over 225,000 older victims.”_6F⁷ In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Los Angeles identified  several of the most common methods of EFE. The FBI concluded that the most common  methods of fraud were Confidence/Romance Scams, Tech Support Scams,

Cryptocurrency  Scams, and Investment Scams._7F⁸ Confidence/Romance scams involve situations in which  “criminals pose as interested romantic partners through dating websites to capitalize on their  elderly victims’ desire to find companions.”_8F⁹ Tech Support Scams revolve around scenarios  where “criminals pose as tech support representatives and offer to fix nonexistent computer  issues—gaining remote access to victims’ devices and, thus, their sensitive information.”_9F¹⁰ The  relatively newer Cryptocurrency Scams involve situations where “scammers convince targeted  individuals to withdraw large sums of cash and deposit into cryptocurrency ATMs or kiosks at  locations provided by the scammers. Once cash is deposited and converted into cryptocurrency,  the scammer transfers it to other cryptocurrency accounts.”_10F¹¹ Lastly, Investment Scams involve  “complex financial crimes often characterized as low-risk investments with guaranteed returns. 

They comprise of advanced fee frauds, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, market manipulation  fraud, real estate investing, and trust-based investing such as cryptocurrency investment  _scams.”11F12 

At the federal level, EFE legislation has been introduced to enable the use of federal  grants. That is, the Empowering law Enforcement to Combat Financial Fraud Act—H.R. 9480— introduced by Representative Zachary Nunn (R-IA-3), would have allowed law enforcement  _{agencies to “use eligible federal grants to investigate general or senior financial fraud.”12F}13 Moreover, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2023—H.R. 500—which passed the  House of Representatives, addresses “the redemption of securities involving the potential  financial exploitation of an adult by allowing an open-end investment company to elect to  _{comply with certain procedures.”13F}¹⁴ Legislation has been introduced that would create new  government offices dedicated to preventing and investigating EFE. The National Senior Investor  Initiative Act of 2023, H.R. 2593, would establish a Senior Investor Taskforce within the  Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This would require the taskforce to “report on  topics relating to investors over the age of 65, including industry trends and serious issues  impacting such investors, and make recommendations for legislative or regulatory actions to  _{address problems encountered by senior investors.”14F}¹⁵ More importantly, this would require the  _{Government Accountability Office to “report on the financial exploitation of senior citizens.”15F}16 

Beyond legislation aiming to protect the elderly from financial scams, older Americans  are not getting enough help from their children and caregivers. A 2015 study conducted by the  National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) illustrated that “almost half (44.3%) of older  adults in the U.S. report having at least one unmet need related to self-care, mobility, or  household activities.”_16F¹⁷ Furthermore, unmet needs “involve not receiving enough hours of care 

or receiving poor quality care or care that does not match individual needs, such as help with  laundry but not food preparation.”_17F¹⁸ This combination of inadequate care among America’s  aging population can make this population group more vulnerable to financial scams. That is,  due to this lack of care, “older adults might be more susceptible to financial abuse due to  cognitive decline, lack of familiarity with technology, reliance on caregivers or family members  for assistance with managing finances, and reliable income streams from Social Security and  _{other sources.”18F}19 

While there have been significant steps taken to address the EFE, much work still  remains to be done, and Congress remains in the best position to take positive steps to adapt to  new and increasingly complex financial exploitation schemes against the elderly. As America’s  over-65 population continues to grow, Congress and state legislatures will be tasked with  creating long-term solutions to protect one of the United States’ most vulnerable groups. 

The Law firm of Peck Ritchey, LLC, affiliated for many years with the Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, has recently been named the Legal Education Partner of the Association. Kerry Peck, Managing Partner of Peck Ritchey, LLC serves as Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law and previously as President of the Chicago Bar Association. Mr. Peck is Co-Author of Alzheimer’s and the Law and Don’t Let Dementia Steal Everything, books which he wrote at the request of the American Bar Association. Kerry Peck served on the Association’s Board for many years and the Law Firm was honored last year by the Alzheimer’s Association. Peck Ritchey LLC is a one-stop shop for families navigating the devastating effects of a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease.

¹ Mather, Mark and Scommegna, Paola; Population Reference Bureau, Fact Sheet: Aging in the United States,  https://www.prb.org/resources/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/ (citing to U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 National  Population Projections Tables: Main Series).  

² Id, (citing to U.S. Census Bureau, “America is Getting Older,” June 22, 2023. ³ Id, (citing to Population Reference Bureau analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population  Survey).  

⁴ Elder Financial Exploitation (2025), https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12462. ⁵ Id. ⁶ Hall LT, Rorai V, Lichtenberg PA. The association between early memory loss, financial exploitation, and financial  exploitation vulnerability. Alzheimer's Dement. 2025;e70001. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsa3.70001 ⁷ Schneider, Karl E., “Elder Financial Exploitation,” Congressional Research Service, February 12, 2025, 1. ⁸ Eimiller, Laura, “FBI Releases 2023 Elder Fraud Report with Tech Support Scams Generating the Most  Complaints and Investment Scams Proving the Costliest,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 2, 2024,  https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/losangeles/news/fbi-releases-2023-elder-fraud-report-with-tech-support scams-generating-the-most-complaints-and-investment-scams-proving-the-costliest. ⁹ Id. ¹⁰ Id. ¹¹ Id. ¹² Id. ¹³ Elder Financial Exploitation (2025), https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12462. ¹⁴ H.R.500—Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2023, 118^th Congress, (2023-2024). ¹⁵ H.R. 2593—National Senior Investor Initiative Act of 2023, 118^th Congress (2023-2024). ¹⁶ Id. 

¹⁷ Patterson, Sarah et al., “Care Received and Unmet Care Needs Among Older Parents in Biological and Step  Families,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77, Supplement 1  (2022), S53.  

¹⁸ Scommegna, Paola, “Vulnerable Older Americans Aren’t Getting Adequate Care—Even With Paid Caregivers or  Grown Children,” Population Reference Bureau, October 19, 2022. ¹⁹ Schneider, Karl E., “Elder Financial Exploitation,” Congressional Research Service, February 12, 2025, 1.