California’s seniors helped build this state. They raised families, launched businesses, taught in our classrooms, served in our military, and led in our communities. They’ve earned a retirement with dignity, safety, and peace of mind. But today, an invisible and fast-growing threat is putting that future at risk—and it’s not happening on our streets. It’s happening online.
From romance scams and phishing emails to imposter calls and toll frauds, digital crime is evolving rapidly—and America’s seniors are being hit hardest. These scams aren’t just annoying robocalls. They are highly coordinated attacks designed to manipulate people into giving up their savings, identities, and trust.
Scammers use fear, confusion, and even love to prey on older adults. One moment it’s a call from someone pretending to be a grandchild in danger. The next, it’s a message from what seems like a government agency demanding payment. The result? Last year alone, seniors who were victims lost over $33,000 each on average to scams. In total, $159 billion was stolen from Americans in 2023.
This is not a fluke. And it’s not a tech issue that can be solved by regulating technology. Many of these schemes are run by transnational criminal networks—often based in Southeast Asia—using trafficked labor to operate scamming centers. These are organized, well-funded criminal enterprises, some with the backing or blind eye of local banks and governments.
We can no longer afford to treat online scams as a personal responsibility problem. It’s a public safety, law enforcement, and national security crisis. And lawmakers across all levels of government must take it seriously.
The Golden Years Policy Council, a leading advocate for senior rights and security, is calling on California’s state, local, and federally elected officials to take immediate and meaningful action. We’re not asking for more awareness campaigns. We’re asking for real protections.
To start, we need the establishment of a taskforce to better coordinate state and federal efforts. Legislation to establish this taskforce has been introduced in Congress and state lawmakers would be smart to follow suit.
We must also empower law enforcement with the funding and tools to identify, track, and shut down online scam networks—just like we do with drug and trafficking rings.
Lastly, we need to create a centralized reporting system, so victims don’t waste precious time figuring out where to turn or how to respond. And so that the government is better able to track the true scale of this problem.
This isn’t about stifling innovation or turning seniors into digital shut-ins. It’s about treating this like the serious crisis it is—and responding with the urgency and coordination it deserves. California’s seniors deserve better than headlines and hollow apologies. They deserve to live without fear of being targeted every time they answer the phone, check an email, or send money to a family member.
It’s time to stop talking about the problem and focus on solving it.
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