Rep. Courtney, FTC Help Seniors Fight Fraud

NORWICH, CT – Rep. Joe Courtney convened an information session with the Federal Trade Commission to help seniors identify and report fraudulent activity.

Last year, Connecticut residents reported over 19,000 cases of fraud and lost nearly $60 million—primarily through imposter scams, like a car warranty offer, and online shopping scams. There were also over 8,000 reported cases of identity theft in the state in 2022—which is significantly higher than most states. 

Unfortunately, residents over 60 years old experienced the greatest financial loss, with seniors in their seventies losing a median amount of $700 in 2022.  

To help address the prevalence of fraudulent activity, Rep. Courtney invited FTC’s Karen O’Connell to share how to identify common scams and report them at Norwich’s Rose City Senior Center. To avoid a scam, residents should:

• Block unwanted calls and text messages;
• Keep personal or financial information private;
• Resist the pressure to act immediately;
• Stop and talk to someone you trust; and
• Report any suspicious activity to the FTC. 

“Fraud and scams are all too common and hitting our seniors the hardest. Fortunately, there are tactics to identify scams, prevent losses, and report fraud and I am committed to spreading the word to help protect residents from bad actors. The resources we shared at Rose City Senior Center are now available at senior centers across eastern Connecticut. I encourage seniors to visit a local senior center or visit ftc.gov/scams to learn more and report any suspicious activity to reportfraud.ftc.gov,” said Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02).

To learn how to identify scams, click here.

To learn how to protect your devices from hackers, click here.

To report identify theft, click here.

To report fraudulent activity, click here.

###