AG Barr lays out plan to protect elderly from scams, abuse

SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. - Telemarketing scams, internet fraud, and dozens of other schemes cost US seniors $1 billion dollars last year according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In most cases, their life savings is gone in an instant - stolen by con-artists who target the elderly.

Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr was in Sun City Center to announce an initiative to take down those scammers. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who was with Barr, said the president is committed to protecting seniors.

"This is about protecting our seniors from pernicious, predatory behavior," Conway said. "Both financial, physical, and often emotional."

AG Barr said financial crimes against the elderly jumped 52% last year, even as the DoJ charged more than 400 fraudsters, worldwide.

But con artists hiding behind computers and telephones aren't his only concern. Barr said he also has his eye on nursing home abuse, with incidents he called "extremely unsettling."

AG Bill Barr in Sun City Center

“We encountered nursing homes where residents were literally being eaten away by scabies, where patients were left with bedsores down to the bone," he said. "Where medication was not being given to patients who were left screaming in pain for hours on end.”

Part of the new initiative will educate nursing homes on safer practices.

"By the end of the next fiscal year, we will conduct 375 elder fraud-related events for state and local law enforcement and local government, 275 events with senior citizen organizations, and 150 such events with industry groups and their representatives," Barr said.

Hundreds of senior citizens packed the Sun City Center Community Hall to hear his message.

One woman interrupted the event saying Medicare budget cuts will hurt seniors.

"I felt as if the audience was being lied to and I wanted the seniors in the room to understand the information they were hearing was not true," Pamela Pride, who was visiting from Washington, told FOX 13. "As it relates to Medicare, we are not being kept safe."

But many found the message sincere. Lois Hansen said it was even heartfelt.

“You have to be your own best advocate, and a lot of times, the people being preyed on don’t have any kind of family or support system around them," she said.

Barr said anyone who wants to report any signs of elder abuse can call the hotline at 1-833-372-8311.