by Julian Routh
Americans age 60 years and older have lost more than $141 million since the beginning of last year in pandemic-related scams, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s aging committee revealed Thursday, as they highlighted the case of a Pennsylvania senior who was tricked into wiring money to a man because she believed he was a suitable romantic partner.
In a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Mr. Casey, the chairman, said seniors have been especially vulnerable to scams since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic because many have isolated, been cut off from family and friends and have longed for human contact — making it harder to turn away from potential scammers.
“Fraudsters saw an opportunity and they pounced,” Mr. Casey said. “They preyed on the fear and the uncertainty surrounding the disease as well as the loneliness and isolation that resulted from the pandemic.”
America’s seniors reported nearly 26,000 pandemic-related scams since Jan. 2020, Mr. Casey’s office said, and the senator noted that the pandemic allowed small scams to balloon into big ones. Eighteen months later, the federal government is still warning of con artists peddling fake cures for the virus, charging lofty sums for protective equipment and trying to steal stimulus checks and unemployment benefits.
Older adults reported much higher individual median dollar losses than those aged 20 to 59, according to the testimony by an official with the Federal Trade Commission, and those 80 years or older reported the largest median losses of $1,300.
Mr. Casey used the hearing to advocate for passage of the Stop Senior Scams Act, a bill he’s helped introduce to create a federal advisory group that will give information and tools to banks and other businesses on how to spot and prevent scams.
The aging committee released a new report on Thursday on fraud, claiming — among other statistics — that “romance scams” have been on the rise in recent years and have accelerated during the pandemic. These involve scammers using fake dating profiles to convince “love interests” to send them money, the report says — and was the result of $139 million lost in 2020.
The committee heard testimony from a victim of a romance scam, a Glenolden, Delaware County, resident who was a widow of 12 years before finding love on Facebook last year — or so she thought.
Kate Kleinert told the committee she messaged for awhile with a man who said he was a surgeon working in Iraq. He eventually convinced her to send gift cards and money, that culminated with at $20,000 request.
Ms. Kleinert said she sent the man a total of $39,000, and it all ended up to be a fake connection.
“I am still paying for that today because I can’t get things repaired at the house. I’ve had no air-conditioning this summer, my refrigerator is off and my stove is off. I have been leaning on my family, my sisters especially, to get me through this,” Ms. Kleinert said. “But the loss that hurts the most was losing his love and losing the family I thought I was going to have and what my new future was going to be.”
Mr. Casey’s committee runs a toll-free hotline for those who want to report suspicious activities and potential scams, staffed Monday through Friday during business hours. The number is 1-855-303-9470.
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