Assembly Member and Aging Committee Chair Rebecca A. Seawright today announced the passage of her legislation to establish a much-needed public awareness campaign to educate older adults, and/or their caregivers, on how to detect and prevent elder financial exploitation.

According to a recent FBI report, more than 4,300 New Yorkers age 60 and older lost a total of $203, 437,635 to fraudsters in 2023, the fourth highest of any state. Scammers are stealing $23,000, every hour, from older New Yorkers.

“Scammers are deploying increasingly advanced methods to access elders’ banking accounts and other financial information,” said Assembly Member Seawright, who represents the Upper East Side, Yorkville, Roosevelt Island, the largest concentration of older adults in Manhattan. “My public awareness bill would spread the word about elder financial exploitation to older New Yorkers where they live. Too many already face housing, food and healthcare insecurity. It is unconscionable that they are further left vulnerable to devastating financial fraud. I will continue to marshal every resource and ensure that they have the affordable city and state, and quality of life, that they deserve, that they have earned.”