Senator Ashley Moody Joins Aging Committee Colleagues in Urging Action to Combat and Prevent International Financial Scams

Jul 24, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Senator Ashley Moody joined Senators Rick Scott, MarkKelly and Kirsten Gillibrand, all members of the Senate Special Committee onAging, in sending a bipartisanletterto Secretary of State Marco Rubio,Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and U.S. Secret Service Director SeanCurran asking the agencies to prioritize coordinated investigations aimed atdismantling the foreign networks behind international financial scams. In theletter, the members express deep concern over the growing threat ofinternational financial scams in recent years, which are often perpetrated byinternational criminal networks, and target older Americans – robbing them oftheir life savings, security, and peace of mind.

As Attorney Generalof Florida, Senator Ashley Moody prioritized combatting fraud and scams againstFlorida’s seniors. As part of her ongoing recent efforts, Senator Moody led theeffort to designate March 6, 2025 asNationalSlam the Scam Dayto raise awareness of scams and financialexploitation targeting aging Americans.

Read the full letterHEREor below:

Dear SecretaryRubio, Secretary Bessent, and Director Curran,

We write toexpress concern over the increasing prevalence of financial scams targetingolder Americans that originate abroad and to urge the Department of State, theDepartment of the Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service to prioritizeinvestigating and disrupting these scams. According to FBI data, elder fraudcomplaints to the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center increased by 14% in 2023, andassociated losses increased by about 11%. Fraud schemes targeting seniors costvictims over $3.4 billion annually, robbing them of their life savings andsecurity. These scams often involve international perpetrators and require acoordinated federal response to effectively prevent further harm.

The SecretService plays a critical role in protecting Americans from financial crimes,including investigating complex fraud schemes that frequently exploit seniors.At the same time, the Department of State is uniquely positioned to engage withinternational partners to disrupt criminal networks that operate outside theUnited States. The Department of the Treasury also plays a vital role indisrupting scams by foreign actors through sanctions enforcement and bytracking, exposing, and cutting off their financial networks. Given theincreasing sophistication of these scams, we urge your agencies to prioritizethe collaborative investigation and disruption of these crimes.

We areencouraged by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC) May 5, 2025, sanctions against the Karen National Army (KNA), a militiagroup in Burma, and its leadership in response to its actions targetingAmericans. Designated as a transnational criminal organization, the KNA hasfacilitated cyber scams that defraud U.S. citizens, engaged in humantrafficking, and supported cross-border smuggling. This decisive action marks acritical step forward in holding foreign facilitators of fraud accountable.However, much more must be done through interagency collaboration to dismantlethese networks, prevent the exploitation of trafficked individuals, and cut offthe financial channels that enable such abuses.

We are alarmedby increasing reports of scam labor camps operating in foreign countries, whereindividuals are trafficked or coerced into running fraud operations thatprimarily target seniors and other vulnerable populations in the United States.In August 2023, the UN estimated that more than 120,000 people, have beentrafficked to Southeast Asia to run these online scams in scam labor camps.These organized criminal enterprises not only defraud Americans but alsoinvolve serious human rights violations. Addressing this issue requiresenhanced diplomatic engagement, intelligence sharing, and cooperation withinternational law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and dismantlethese operations.

Specifically, weask that your agencies:

Protectingseniors from fraud is not just a financial issue—it is a matter of public trustand security. We appreciate the work your agencies have already done to combatfinancial crimes, we look forward to working with you to ensure that theFederal government is doing everything possible to safeguard older Americansfrom these devastating scams.

Please providean update on the steps your agencies are taking to address this issue and anylegislative or policy recommendations that could strengthen your efforts byJuly 30, 2025. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

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