Chairman Rick Scott, Bipartisan Colleagues Urge Action to Combat and Prevent International Financial Scams

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, joined by bipartisan committee members Senator Mark Kelly, Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand, and Senator Ashley Moody, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran asking the agencies to prioritize coordinated investigations aimed at dismantling the foreign networks behind international financial scams. In the letter, the members express deep concern over the growing threat of international financial scams in recent years, which are often perpetrated by international criminal networks, and target older Americans – robbing them of their life savings, security, and peace of mind.

This letter follows the release of the Aging Committee’s Annual Fraud Report which details the growing financial threats facing America’s aging population and provides resources to help prevent and report scams. As part of their ongoing efforts to raise awareness, Chairman Scott and Senator Kelly led the effort to designate March 6, 2025 as National Slam the Scam Day to raise awareness of scams and financial exploitation targeting aging Americans.

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Secretary Rubio, Secretary Bessent, and Director Curran,

We write to express concern over the increasing prevalence of financial scams targeting older Americans that originate abroad and to urge the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service to prioritize investigating and disrupting these scams. According to FBI data, elder fraud complaints to the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center increased by 14% in 2023, and associated losses increased by about 11%. Fraud schemes targeting seniors cost victims over $3.4 billion annually, robbing them of their life savings and security. These scams often involve international perpetrators and require a coordinated federal response to effectively prevent further harm.

The Secret Service plays a critical role in protecting Americans from financial crimes, including investigating complex fraud schemes that frequently exploit seniors. At the same time, the Department of State is uniquely positioned to engage with international partners to disrupt criminal networks that operate outside the United States. The Department of the Treasury also plays a vital role in disrupting scams by foreign actors through sanctions enforcement and by tracking, exposing, and cutting off their financial networks. Given the increasing sophistication of these scams, we urge your agencies to prioritize the collaborative investigation and disruption of these crimes.

We are encouraged by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) May 5, 2025, sanctions against the Karen National Army (KNA), a militia group in Burma, and its leadership in response to its actions targeting Americans. Designated as a transnational criminal organization, the KNA has facilitated cyber scams that defraud U.S. citizens, engaged in human trafficking, and supported cross-border smuggling. This decisive action marks a critical step forward in holding foreign facilitators of fraud accountable. However, much more must be done through interagency collaboration to dismantle these networks, prevent the exploitation of trafficked individuals, and cut off the financial channels that enable such abuses.

We are alarmed by increasing reports of scam labor camps operating in foreign countries, where individuals are trafficked or coerced into running fraud operations that primarily target seniors and other vulnerable populations in the United States. In August 2023, the UN estimated that more than 120,000 people, have been trafficked to Southeast Asia to run these online scams in scam labor camps. These organized criminal enterprises not only defraud Americans but also involve serious human rights violations. Addressing this issue requires enhanced diplomatic engagement, intelligence sharing, and cooperation with international law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and dismantle these operations.

Specifically, we ask that your agencies:

1. Enhance investigative efforts to track and dismantle international fraud networks that prey on seniors, including through partnerships with foreign law enforcement agencies.
2. Expand efforts to combat scam labor camps, including working with international partners to identify and hold accountable those responsible for human trafficking and forced participation in fraudulent activities.
3. Strengthen public awareness to help seniors recognize and avoid fraudulent schemes before they become victims.
4. Improve interagency coordination with the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, and other relevant agencies to maximize resources and streamline efforts to combat scams targeting seniors.
5. Increase transparency and reporting to Congress on current enforcement efforts and any additional resources or policy recommendations needed to more effectively address this crisis.

Protecting seniors from fraud is not just a financial issue—it is a matter of public trust and security. We appreciate the work your agencies have already done to combat financial crimes, we look forward to working with you to ensure that the Federal government is doing everything possible to safeguard older Americans from these devastating scams.

Please provide an update on the steps your agencies are taking to address this issue and any legislative or policy recommendations that could strengthen your efforts by July 30, 2025. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

###