Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Scammers Exposed: Protecting Older Americans from Transnational Crime Networks
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
We’re here today because the scam threat is real, we’re all potential victims and the perpetrators are getting more bold, more ruthless and more global by the day.
Transnational organized crime groups are targeting all of us with industrial-scale fraud.
These aren't small-time, lone-wolf crooks.
These are sophisticated criminal networks operating with precision across borders.
They exploit technology, including artificial intelligence, and are draining billions of dollars from American households.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that scammers stole $158 billion from Americans in 2023. Almost $62 billion of that was stolen from seniors alone.
Sixty-two billion dollars would fund the entire Department of Justice for a year and a half. It would fund all public university tuition for U.S. undergraduates for a year.
That’s a lot of money. So, where is it going?
Transnational crime networks are using American dollars for drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking and other evil projects.
Let me be absolutely clear: this is a national security crisis hiding in plain sight. And we’re inadvertently funding it.
According to a 2023 Gallup poll, scams are Americans’ second-highest crime concern, just after fear of identity theft.
Nearly half of Americans say they’ve encountered a cyberattack or digital scam attempt. Eight percent of US adults – 21 million Americans – were scammed in the past year alone.
That means more than 57,000 Americans are being scammed each day.
Scammers are extremely convincing, and their tactics are very effective.
Calls from foreign countries appear on cell phones as the local bank branch’s number, the local police department or another trusted entity.
AI needs just seventeen words of a person’s real voice to create an entire script that sounds like them.
So, it’s believable when a caller that sounds just like your child or grandchild claims to need a few thousand dollars after an at-fault car accident.
There’s a scam out there designed to entrap each of us.
Americans are pressured, coerced, coaxed, encouraged or romanced into emptying their savings, draining their retirement and wiring funds to accounts controlled by criminal organizations in other countries.
Crime groups in Nigeria are known for internet scams, and crime groups in India are known for tech support scams.
Chinese gangs run scam centers in Southeast Asia, where trafficked individuals are often forced to carry out scam efforts.
Though scams affect all Americans, we focused this hearing on older Americans for a few reasons.
First, older folks are suffering over a third of all scam losses. They often have accumulated more wealth than younger Americans, so they have more to lose.
Second, seniors belong to a generation that’s more likely to answer the phone and is more likely to experience loneliness and isolation relating to age.
Lastly, financial exploitation increases the risk of both physical and mental health issues, particularly for older folks.
People who have been scammed often experience shame, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. They also have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions.
This isn’t just a call to protect the elderly. It’s a call to defend our country’s integrity, its financial security and its moral obligation to protect the innocent.
I’ll close my remarks with a two-minute video that shows just how convincing these scammers really are.
-30-