Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D-BROOKLYN) introduced a bill into the City Council yesterday that would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to educate seniors & their caregivers about various scams that target older adults.

As a member of the New York City Council Committee on Aging, as well as the Committee on Public Safety, Councilman Deutsch has actively advocated for seniors within the 48th Council District and throughout the City. Many of these older adults have fallen victim to fake telemarketing or IRS calls, consumer fraud, or the “fake grandchild scheme”.

Intro 1086 is a bill that will protect seniors through education – the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will be compelled to do outreach to seniors and their caregivers about ongoing scams, how to protect oneself from these kinds of calls or interactions, and how to report it to the proper authorities. In order to guarantee that this information will be accessible to all, Councilman Deutsch ensured that the educational material will be distributed in seven different languages: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Haitian Creole, Russian and Italian.

Speaking out in Council Chambers during Wednesday’s session to urge fellow Council Members to support this legislation, Councilman Deutsch said, “This valuable information will target our senior population and their caregivers, explaining how – as potential victims – they can protect themselves from fraud. My district has a significant amount of senior residents, and concerns about deceitful telemarketing calls are increasingly common.”

Councilman Deutsch also cited a National Council on Aging study that indicated that the “over 60” population throughout New York City makes twice as many purchases over the phone as the national average, making them especially vulnerable to this kind of fraud.

“I thank Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, as well as Councilman Rafael Espinal, Chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs, for co-sponsoring Intro 1086 with me,” Councilman Deutsch concluded.

(YWN Desk – NYC)