LSC reports on elder‑justice partnerships, warns seniors are targeted by sophisticated scams

Ron, speaking for the Legal Services Corporation, told the governance committee that LSC has partnered with federal agencies to combat scams targeting older adults. "Never Ever refers to the education the federal government is trying to undertake of seniors that no government agency, particularly no federal government agency, will ever ask seniors for their bank account information or ask them to switch bank accounts," Ron said. He described an LSC webinar for grantees and a joint messaging campaign with the Department of Justice and others to amplify the FTC/DOJ outreach.

The report placed the work in the context of the Elder Justice Coordinating Council, which Ron said is a multiagency federal group led by the HHS secretary and the attorney general that coordinates federal efforts to address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. He said LSC joined the council several years ago and uses webinars and a toolkit to provide grantees resources for consumer protection and fraud prevention.

A committee member asked whether the council’s work reflected demographic shifts. Ron said the council has existed for roughly 15 years and that increased online connectivity, not solely population growth, has driven many new fraud opportunities aimed at older adults. Another committee member raised the growing threat posed by artificial intelligence, noting that new tools can mimic voices in minutes and make impersonation scams easier to carry out.

LSC’s outreach, Ron said, focuses on equipping legal‑aid grantees and advocates with materials and training so they can protect older clients. He invited board members to notify staff about related partnership opportunities so LSC can lend its communications and grantee network to federal awareness campaigns.

The committee did not take formal action on the report during the open session; it moved to close session for personnel business later in the meeting.