2025 World Elder Abuse Awareness Month

PROVIDENCE – In recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Month, the Department of Justice announced that it has reinvigorated efforts to protect American seniors from transnational schemes that cost seniors billions of dollars, often stealing their life savings. In the past few weeks alone, Department prosecutors have arrested and filed cases against foreign fraudsters and domestic actors who have knowingly facilitated foreign-based crimes.

“Cases involving elder fraud are among the most heartbreaking cases our law enforcement partners investigate and that we prosecute. This office and federal, state, and local law enforcement are committed to working together  to hold accountable those who prey on some of our most vulnerable citizens and strip them of their hard-earned savings,” commented Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. “We urge our seniors and their families to remain vigilant and to utilize the many resources available to them, such as those described below, to detect, report and avoid falling victims to these frauds.”

The Department is highlighting a number of actions, including in the District of Rhode Island, taken to protect American seniors.  These include cases against those who engage in, and knowingly facilitate, romance fraud, lottery fraud, tech support fraud, and grandparent scams. Romance fraud is a confidence scheme where a perpetrator feigns romantic interest with a victim only to later extract money or property under false pretenses. Lottery fraud schemes trick victims into believing they have won a non-existent lottery or sweepstakes prize in order to extract fake fees, taxes, or other fabricated charges from the victim. Tech support fraud scams involve perpetrators tricking victims into believing that their computer or phone has a problem, often through fake pop-up messages, and to later seek funds from the victims in order to “fix” the “problem.” Grandparent scams, another type of confidence scheme, involve scammers impersonating a grandchild or close family member who experiences a fictitious emergency and needs money from the victim as soon as possible.

On June 12, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island announced the conviction of a British national from Northern Ireland who participated in a multi-state construction and money laundering fraud scheme targeting seniors. Members of the conspiracy falsely represented their experiences, skills, and business experiences while misrepresenting to property owners’ construction needs or repairs required on their properties. The conspiracy defrauded victims in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, and netted more than a million dollars. See here for the full USAO press release. 

On May 21, 2025, this office announced the indictment of eight individuals for their roles in orchestrating and executing elaborate transnational fraud and money laundering schemes targeting elderly citizens in the United States and Canada. According to court documents, pop-up messages on seniors’ computers making various false claims lured victims to call live agents, who informed the victims that their financial assets were at risk or could be garnished, among other false claims. Law enforcement identified approximately 300 individuals in at least 37 states who suffered known losses exceeding $5 million. See here for the full USAO press release.

On November 4, 2024, it was announced that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island charged a Florida resident and a New York resident with allegedly perpetrating grandparent scams against seniors in multiple states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It is alleged that collectively the defendants defrauded seniors in more than a dozen communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts of at least $230,000. See here for the full USO press release.

Recovering Victim Loss

Victims face many challenges in financially recovering from fraud schemes—and that is even more true for elderly victims. Many retired seniors are no longer earning income and cannot count on market appreciation to grow their retirement savings. Perpetrators may have already spent or forwarded victim funds beyond the reach of United States law enforcement. Victims may not have the resources to pursue legal action or hire legal representation. These, and other reasons, make it critically important that the Department do whatever it takes to achieve substantial victim restitution in cases we investigate and prosecute.

National Elder Fraud Hotline 2025 WEAAD Campaign 

The National Elder Fraud Hotline is a free, national resource for older adults and their loved ones experiencing financial fraud. Supported by the Office for Victims of Crime, the National Elder Fraud Hotline is staffed by professionals who have experience working with older adults. Staff are continuously updated on the latest scams, are trained to make referrals and warm hand-offs for resources and services in the older adult’s local area and can assist older adults in placing a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a report which has the potential to freeze funds (although freezing funds cannot be guaranteed).

The department urges individuals to be on the lookout for fraudulent lottery, prize notification, sweepstakes, and psychic scams. If you receive a phone call, letter or email promising a large prize in exchange for a fee, do not respond. Fraudsters often will use official-sounding names or the names of real lotteries or sweepstakes or pretend to be a government agent purportedly helping to secure a prize. 

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov. 

The Department notes that for all cases discussed above, facts included in a Complaint, Information, or Indictment are only allegations, and all defendants are innocent until proven guilty by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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