“Congress makes the following findings:
“(1)
Older Americans are among the most rapidly growing segments of our society.
“(2)
Our Nation’s elderly are too frequently the victims of violent crime, property crime, and consumer and
telemarketing fraud.
“(3)
The elderly are often targeted and retargeted in a range of fraudulent schemes.
“(4)
The TRIAD program, originally sponsored by the National Sheriffs’ Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the American Association of Retired Persons unites sheriffs, police chiefs, senior volunteers, elder care providers, families, and seniors to reduce the criminal victimization of the elderly.
“(5)
Congress should continue to support TRIAD and similar community partnerships that improve the safety and quality of life for millions of senior citizens.
“(6)
There are few other community-based efforts that forge partnerships to coordinate criminal justice and social service resources to improve the safety and security of the elderly.
“(7)
According to the National Consumers League,
telemarketing fraud costs consumers nearly $40,000,000,000 each year.
“(8)
Senior citizens are often the target of
telemarketing fraud.
“(9)
Fraudulent telemarketers compile the names of consumers who are potentially vulnerable to
telemarketing fraud into the so-called ‘mooch lists’.
“(10)
It is estimated that 56 percent of the names on such ‘mooch lists’ are individuals age 50 or older.
“(11)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Trade Commission have provided resources to assist private-sector organizations to operate outreach programs to warn senior citizens whose names appear on confiscated ‘mooch lists’.
“(12)
The Administration on Aging was formed, in part, to provide senior citizens with the resources, information, and assistance their special circumstances require.
“(13)
The
Administration on Aging has a system in place to inform senior citizens of the dangers of
telemarketing fraud.
“(14)
Senior citizens need to be warned of the dangers of
telemarketing fraud before they become victims of such fraud.”
