INFORUM

By Jessica Backlund

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Moorhead Mayor Carlson and local advocacy organizations are working to help stop fraud that target seniors.

Senator Klobuchar says older American's loose an estimated $3 billion every year because of scams.

Klobuchar says scams and frauds have only increased during the pandemic. The federal trade commission says they have received reports of over 400 thousand pandemic related scams.

"I bet everyone in this room has gotten some sort of email that you know is a scam. At first you think maybe it's not a scam maybe you can get something out of it. Well imagine being 85 years old and getting that," says Klobuchar.

Klobuchar says the pandemic has made seniors even more vulnerable to scams because they're more isolated, making it harder for their children or grand children to intervene.

She introduced a bill called the 'Seniors Fraud Prevention Act.' The bill would direct the federal trade commission to create a department that educates seniors about fraud and increase the agency's monitoring and response efforts when it comes to senior fraud.

The bill is currently in congress and Klobuchar says she's committed to getting it passed.

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