HOPEWELL JUNCTION – As seniors were gathering inside the East Fishkill Senior Center, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a new federal bill to help curb abuse known as the Senior Financial Empowerment Act.
“We have written a bill, I wrote it with Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine, to address some of the concerns,” said Gillibrand. “It ensures older adults and their care-givers have access to critical information regarding financial abuse and the tools they need to get help if they have been made victims fraud.”
The bills standardize how this financial abuse is reported and establishes a hot line of how many of these phone scams can be reported.
“Because the Hudson Valley is home to so many loving grandparents, large senior population and a very tight-knit community, something presents an opportunity for these bad actors, these criminals, to take advantage of elders,” said James. “As I have said to my elder friends, you have earned the right to hang up on people. Please be rude to those individuals that want to take advantage of your kindness.”
