Florida, Georgia AGs Talk Up Senior Abuse Enforcement

Attorneys general in Florida and Georgia suggest ways to combat senior abuse, with Florida AG Pam Bondi noting more than 3.2 million senior Florida residents are ripe targets for scammers, reports Daily Business Review . "Anyone who would prey on these great citizens in their golden years is lower than dirt, and my Consumer Protection Division will aggressively investigate anyone targeting Florida seniors," she vows. Meanwhile, Georgia AG Chris Carr cites such abuse as "a tragic, evolving issue in our state, and we owe it to our older, at-risk Georgians to do all we can to protect them." He notes that "approximately 90 percent of these offenses are committed by a family member, and ... they are particularly devastating in these situations. As we continue to make it a priority to protect our state's most vulnerable citizens, we are urging the public to be on the lookout for signs of senior abuse in all its forms: physical, emotional, and financial." One particularly pernicious scam Carr calls attention to involves fraudsters calling older people along the lines of: "Hi Grandma, do you know who this is?" When the grandparent guesses the name, "the scammer has established a fake identity without having done a lick of background research," he says. Carr notes Georgia has special laws to shield residents 65 and older, disabled adults 18 and older who are mentally or physically incapacitated or have Alzheimer's or dementia, and residents of long-term care communities.