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State announces expanded outreach to protect seniors from fraud, panels urge vigilance and reporting
Summary
The Department of Commerce and partner agencies announced a senior-targeted outreach campaign to combat fraud and scams; panelists emphasized red flags, reporting routes and protective steps such as trusted-contact designations on financial accounts.
State officials and consumer-protection partners used the symposium to outline an expanded campaign to inoculate seniors against scams and to describe legal and practical tools for preventing financial exploitation.
Melanie Hall (communications director for the outreach initiative) said the Department of Commerce will expand Television, senior-center and expo outreach as part of a new campaign focused on older adults. "We're gonna be initiating a huge outreach campaign directed at our seniors to help them help themselves," she said.
Panelists from the Attorney General's office, the Division of Consumer Protection and the Division of Securities counseled seniors and families to watch for common red flags — high-pressure urgency, unusual payment channels, poor grammar in messages — and to report scams early. Coy Aycox (special agent) said many exploitation cases involve people the victim trusts, often family members, and described multidisciplinary prosecution teams for Medicaid-related exploitation cases.
Francois Grayson from the Division of Securities recommended adding a "trusted contact" to financial accounts and said firms can pause suspicious transactions and report vulnerable-adult exploitation. Katie Haas from the Division of Consumer Protection offered a WISER rubric (Watch, Investigate, Set boundaries, Examine fine print, Relationship) for everyday decisions. Jay Haapala of AARP described the Fraud Watch Network and the organization's national call center.
