Seawright Hosts Hearing on Growing Problem of Elder Scams

Upper East Side State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright spearheaded a government hearing on elder financial exploitation on Tuesday, Dec. 2, which revealed the staggering—and expanding—scale of fraud perpetrated against older New Yorkers.

Seawright, who heads up the Assembly’s Aging Committee, set the scene with some broader baseline statistics. “According to the FBI, more than 4,300 New Yorkers, aged 60 and older, lost $203 million in 2023–averaging $47,000 per person,” she said. “That is $557,000 lost every day, or $23,200 every hour, placing New York fourth-highest in the nation.”

“The trend continues to worsen,” she added. “In 2024, New Yorkers aged 60 and older filed over 6,200 complaints, accounting for more than $257 million in losses.”

According to Seawright, elder financial exploitation comes from an indiscriminate array of sources, including those that vulnerable New Yorkers might not expect. “These crimes take many forms, from breaches of trust by family members and caregivers, to highly sophisticated AI-generated scams carried out by strangers,” she said.

Seawright also put a point on exactly how materially (and psychologically) pernicious these scams can be, given that they can essentially produce financial ruin for people who have put a lifetime of work into their retirement.

“In my district, we had an older woman come in, and she was completely wiped out of her savings,” she said bluntly. “We need more preparation, prevention, and education around this subject.”

Greg Olsen, the Director of the New York State Office of the Aging, testified that only 1 out of 44 cases of elder financial exploitation are reported. He also cleared up the common stereotype that older people are targeted because they’re not “sophisticated with tech,” noting that his younger daughter had somebody steal money out of her Venmo—a cash-transfer app—account.

Instead, Olsen explained, the reason older New Yorkers are targeted is due to their aforementioned savings; he noted that “83 percent of all household wealth is held by people over the age of 50.”

Another underlying factor in elder financial scams stems from the isolation of older New Yorkers, at least on a relative basis.

“The trusting nature–certainly when you’re isolated, like over the pandemic–[makes] you more susceptible,” Olson explained. “We’ve had legitimate stories of people who knew they were being scammed, but they were so isolated that the person that they talked to every Friday was a scammer.”

Deborah Kaplan, who serves as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts, was also in attendance. She appeared quite disturbed by the elder fraud cases she’s seen appear on her docket, including one specific “recent” incident involving an insurance agent.

“[The agent] cultivated relationships with several older clients,” Kaplan said. “When their annuities actually matured...[the agent] convinced them to “reinvest” the proceeds with her, stealing more than $1 million dollars that should have supported them throughout their retirement.”

As for achievable fixes that could mitigate the almost inconceivable scale of abuse, Seawright and the rest of the committee highlighted measures such as improving staffing at Adult Protective Services offices, as well as closing any gaps in reporting systems.