WHITE PLAINS – Westchester county Friday kicked off Senior Crime Busters, a proactive elder fraud and crime prevention program that provides tips to seniors on how to stay safe and avoid financial exploitation and other scams.

The new outreach effort brings officials from law enforcement, social services agencies and non-profit organizations in Westchester together for the first time to pool their resources and expertise when speaking to senior groups.

County Executive Andrew Spano said the initiative underscores the county’s strong commitment to protecting its older residents, who are especially vulnerable to fraud. He said the New York State attorney general reported that people 65 and older make up about 13 percent of the total US population, but account for about 30 percent of its scam victims.

In Westchester, Spano said people 60 and older represent 20 percent of the population, or one in five residents, so the number of seniors victimized by scams could be higher.