Boston council committee hears city response to rising scams targeting older residents

The City Council Committee on Strong Women, Families, and Communities held a hearing on Feb. 13 to examine scams targeting older Boston residents and the city’s efforts to prevent and respond to them. Panelists from the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, the Age Strong Commission, the Boston Police Department and private partners including AT&T described outreach programs, law-enforcement analysis of trends and available resources for victims.

Boston police intelligence official Deputy Superintendent Gerald Cahill told the committee, “In 2024 alone, fraud reported by elders in Boston resulted in over $12,000,000 in loss to them.” The hearing brought officials together to explain how cases are reported and handled, to describe prevention work in neighborhood senior centers and to discuss new scams tied to cryptocurrencies and evolving technologies.

Committee Chair Councilor Murphy said the hearing was intended to raise awareness and make practical resources easier to find for older residents and their families. The discussion focused on four areas: how scams are reported and mediated, community education and language access, law-enforcement investigation and recovery, and private-sector prevention programs.

Sebastian LaChance, consumer advocate at the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, said the city’s office works with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and uses mediation to resolve many complaints. “We specifically work using mediation. We can't make any forceful statements to the businesses to enforce them to do anything,” LaChance said, describing the office’s role in recovering funds when possible and in educating residents. He told the committee the city’s consumer-office intake led to more than 1,000 closed cases in fiscal 2023–24 with roughly $260,800 returned to residents, and that so far in the current year his office had closed about 605 cases recovering just over $100,000.

Emily Shea, commissioner of the Age Strong Commission, described the commission’s outreach and volunteer programs. Shea said the commission runs community education events, publishes regular scam-prevention material in its seniority magazine and trains AmeriCorps RSVP volunteers in a curriculum called Money Smarts for Older Adults. “Scammers are becoming increasingly creative and bold in their tactics,” Shea said, and she urged partnerships with banks, the Attorney General’s Office and organizations such as AARP and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Nicole Grant and other BPD officials described district-level outreach by community service officers and the department’s work putting scam alerts at high-traffic locations. Grant said officers distribute flyers and hold regular workshops, and the department is translating materials into Cantonese, Vietnamese and other languages used in Boston neighborhoods.

Deputy Superintendent Cahill described the role of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) in identifying patterns that detectives can investigate and turning those findings into public advisories. Cahill and other BPD officials said cryptocurrency-related scams and unregulated “bitcoin ATM” kiosks are an increasingly common method for fraudsters to receive funds; the department identified roughly 40 bitcoin ATMs within the city and said it is producing outreach materials to place near those machines.

Edmund Donnelly, director of external affairs for AT&T in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, described AT&T’s “Cyber Aware” outreach program and its work with community officers. Donnelly said AT&T held 15 events with community officers in 2024 and estimated the company’s program reached more than 500 seniors; the company planned additional events in 2025, including a March program at the Mildred Ave BCYF facility and a March 18 Chinese-language session in Brighton.

Panelists and councilors repeatedly urged seniors and families to report suspected scams to police or to the Attorney General’s Office promptly so investigators can attempt to freeze funds and trace transactions. “If people are out there and they think that something's not right, do not give any money up,” Deputy Superintendent Grant said, urging immediate reporting and use of local community service officers when possible.

Officials cited city and state resources listeners can use: scam alerts and advisories on the Boston Police website (police.boston.gov), consumer-protection information from the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, and the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation’s contractor registration and homeowner guidance for avoiding home-repair scams. The Age Strong Commission said it will continue recruiting volunteers and expanding educational workshops; BPD said it will expand translated materials and place warning flyers near crypto kiosks.

The committee did not consider legislation or take votes in the hearing. Witnesses said prevention and community education are the primary near-term strategies while detectives and federal partners pursue investigations that may cross borders.

The hearing record includes notices of upcoming consumer-protection and scam-prevention events during National Consumer Protection Week and a March 13 AT&T event in Mattapan. Officials said they plan continued partnership across city agencies, prosecutors’ offices and nonprofit groups to both reduce losses and reduce the stigma that can keep victims from reporting.

For seniors and families seeking help, panelists directed listeners to the Boston Police scam alerts page, the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs intake process (referrals from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office) and the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation’s contractor-registration search for home-repair questions.