The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday recognized National Senior Fraud Awareness Day by celebrating a group of seniors working to prevent their peers from becoming victims of scams.
Council members Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Heather Hutt highlighted the efforts of the Stop Senior Scams Acting Program, which recently held events in the Fairfax District and Lincoln Heights.
“When we talk about senior fraud, the stakes are really huge,” Yaroslavsky said. “This problem is only growing as scams prey on the growing digital divide and become more sophisticated. It’s our collective responsibility to safeguard and empower our seniors.”
The councilwoman encouraged her colleagues to host the group and organize workshops in their respective districts.
Hutt said the FBI reported that elderly victims of scams increased by 84% between 2021 and 2022. Hundreds of thousands of cases of financial exploitation of senior occur each year, representing a loss of more than $3 billion annually, she added.
“It’s important to start having these conversations to discuss what the latest trends are, and to protect each other,” Hutt said.
Harris-Dawson praised the program for building a community that protects each other. “We build a layer of protection around our seniors, who again, are among our most treasured residents and constituents in the city, but also have a vulnerability that we all need to pay special attention to,” he said.
Adrienne Omansky, director and founder of the program, thanked the trio for recognizing Senior Fraud Awareness Day. She said most seniors don’t report falling victim to scams for several reasons, mostly shame.
The trio of council members presented Omansky with a resolution acknowledging her group’s contributions to the city.
“We proudly display it wherever we go. It isn’t just something that sits in my house. It is a treasure. It’s like the Declaration of Independence,” Omansky said.