Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand will hold a hearing on January 14 to examine international scams that target older Americans. The hearing, titled “Made in China, Paid by Seniors: Stopping the Surge of International Scams,” will focus on how Chinese nationals and networks are involved in large-scale online fraud operations aimed at Americans and others globally.
The committee plans to discuss how China is connected to the global scam economy and address links between Chinese digital infrastructure, cybercrime, and human trafficking. The impact of these crimes on American families, especially seniors, will be a central topic.
Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gillibrand have been active in efforts to protect seniors from scams. In 2025, they led a bipartisan report raising awareness about financial exploitation targeting seniors. They also continued support for the committee’s toll-free Fraud Hotline to improve education and prevention resources for seniors and their families. Additionally, they backed several legislative measures against financial exploitation and sophisticated scams such as the National Strategy for Combating Scams Act, GUARD Act, STOP Scammers Act by Chairman Scott, and the National Slam the Scam Day resolution.
Witnesses scheduled to testify include Nathan Picarsic from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Kathy Stokes from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network; Jacqueline Burns Koven from Chainalysis; and Seto Bagdoyan from the Government Accountability Office.
The hearing will take place at 3:30 PM ET in room SH-216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. It will be broadcast live online.
The Senate Aging Committee addresses issues affecting older Americans—including Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, retirement security—and oversees federal programs related to elder care through hearings and reports (https://www.aging.senate.gov/). The committee provides public resources such as fraud prevention tools like its hotline (https://www.aging.senate.gov/) to help protect older adults from financial exploitation. Its oversight covers all Americans involved in aging-related federal programs nationwide (https://www.aging.senate.gov/), operating as an authorized special committee with powers to conduct investigations (https://www.aging.senate.gov/).
Senator Rick Scott serves as chair while Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is ranking member (https://www.aging.senate.gov/). The majority office is located in the Dirksen Senate Office Building while minority offices are housed in Hart (https://www.aging.senate.gov/).
The committee was established as a temporary body in 1961 before becoming permanent on February 1, 1977 (https://www.aging.senate.gov/).
