Working to protect Californians from scams
CALIFORNIA (Mar. 25, 2025) — In my role as chair of the Senate Banking and Financial Intuitions Committee, I recently held an informational hearing on scams – specifically focusing on how technology and transnational fraud rings threaten California consumers.
We heard testimony from scam victims, legal experts and advocates, banking industry professionals, and law enforcement, including prosecutors and a special agent in charge with the U.S. Secret Service. The testimony was invaluable in learning more on how these criminals operate, the harm they cause, and where the Legislature can work to better ensure consumers are protected and scammers are prosecuted.
Scams are responsible for taking billions of dollars out of California households each year. The rising frequency and increasing sophistication of these criminals is alarming, especially as these scammers continue to embrace cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence in combination with spoofed telephone calls, email phishing, fake texts and other nefarious intrusions into the daily lives of Californians.
These scams range from the relatively small, one-off events to the devastating, elaborate schemes transnational criminal networks conduct to target the nest eggs of retirees that can result in losses of more than $1 million per victim.
Researchers estimate that, factoring in unreported crimes, the financial losses from these high-tech financial scams in the United States is more than $158 billion annually. For individuals, the average reported loss was $14,198 in 2023, according to the FBI. For victims over the age of 60, FBI data show the average reported loss was $33,915.
Public health
And beyond the money lost, scams are a public health problem – victims often experience emotional and health issues in the aftermath.
Last session, I worked with my colleagues in the Legislature on a bill to address elder financial abuse that unfortunately did not make it into the law books. We are going back to the drawing board on this important issue this session, and I hope we can make progress.
As we think about policymaking in this area, it is important to understand what we are up against, which is why I hosted this informational hearing. In the meantime, there are some things that are helpful to know to help protect ourselves from these scams.
Scammers are very skilled criminals with lots of tricks up their sleeves. They capitalize on the news and current events, such as disasters, to pull at your emotions and your heartstrings. You should cultivate a security mindset, especially when it comes to any information you provide online or to unsolicited callers. Slow down, don’t rush. Get a second opinion or verify independently the correct phone number of anyone contacting you – criminals can even alter Caller I.D.
Do not click
Most scams attempt to get you to provide sensitive personal information, such as bank account numbers, logins and passwords. They seek to steal your money or your identity for criminal financial gain. Do not click links sent to you unless you are absolutely certain of the source and never send money to someone you don’t know – especially by wire or cash transfer app.
If you believe you have been a victim of a scam, it is important to report it to your financial institution as well as to law enforcement. You can learn more about scam prevention and make a report of a scam crime on the California Attorney General website at oag.ca.gov/consumers.
I hope that anyone struggling right now, or who would like to learn more about fraud prevention, will remember that my office serves as a resource to them; please connect with me through my offices at 925-258-1176 or 916-651-4009.