Scammers Exposed: Protecting Older Americans from Transnational Crime Networks

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing 'Scammers Exposed: Protecting Older Americans from Transnational Crime Networks' about concerning issues some seniors are facing online.

"An issue I have worked on for some time at the Senate Commerce Committee is romance scams, and the way these scammers target our seniors. Americans—and specifically our senior citizens—are losing close to 1.3 billion dollars per year on romance scams. Some lose their entire life savings. These scam artists are not amateurs. In fact, they are often part of sophisticated transnational criminal organization networks that traffic individuals in developing countries with promises of high-paying jobs. These victims of human trafficking are transported to “fraud dens,” where their passports are stolen, and they are forced to pay back their “debt” by working overtime to defraud our seniors in the United States. These scams are well financed and sophisticated crimes, often using AI and other technologies to dupe American consumers. Could you speak about the dangerous transnational criminal organizations that many of these scams are tied to?"