{"id":8352,"date":"2025-12-16T13:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T18:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=8352"},"modified":"2026-01-30T11:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:43:45","slug":"retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PEFFebruary 6, 2026 —<\/em> At the end of January, I participated in a \u201cStop the Scam\u201d campaign webinar on protecting older adults from social media and AI-driven fraud presented by the Alliance for Retired Americans, an organization with which PEF Retirees are affiliated. The New York State chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans (NYSARA) is a strong advocate for seniors. You can learn about their work here<\/a>. Below is an excerpt from the NYSARA Monday Alert <\/em>that I think you might find helpful.<\/p>\n

On January 13, NYS Governor Kathy Hochul gave her annual State of the State address. The Governor emphasized many issues, but she spoke about the prevalence of scam and fraud against older adults. Governor Hochul said protecting older adults from abuse, scams and elder abuse (physical, social, financial or sexual abuse or neglect) impacts many adults aged 60 and older in New York State.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that 300,000 older New Yorkers are victimized annually. Meanwhile, adults over the age of 60 are especially targeted for financial scams and fraud. In 2024, seniors over 60 years of age lost $4.8 billion to scams, while those aged 50-59 lost $2.5 billion, according to a recent report released by the FBI. To expand efforts to protect older adults from abuse, scams and fraud, Governor Hochul will direct the NYS Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) to create comprehensive virtual elder abuse prevention and response training modules that are free of charge and accessible to the public.<\/p>\n

With NYSARA’s partnership with NYSOFA we are planning a-train-the-trainer curriculum on prevention of senior fraud and scams that will kick off in March with the first trainings scheduled at the April and May meetings of NYSARA Chapters.<\/p>\n

Barry Kaufmann, President of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, released the following statement in response to Governor Kathy Hochul\u2019s announcement of a new initiative to protect seniors from abuse, scams, and fraud in the State of the State address.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul\u2019s initiative is exactly the kind of smart, proactive leadership older New Yorkers need right now. The need is great. Thousands of older New Yorkers are targeted each year by financial scams and criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence and social media platforms to create more convincing and dangerous schemes. Providing free, accessible elder-abuse prevention and response training will help empower families, caregivers, and communities to intervene before harm occurs and save seniors from devastating financial losses and protect their dignity, independence, and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn about the Stop the Scam campaign here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 6, 2026 — At the end of January, I participated in a \u201cStop the Scam\u201d campaign webinar on protecting older adults from social media and AI-driven fraud presented by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-8352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-44-no-1"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 6, 2026 — At the end of January, I participated in a \u201cStop the Scam\u201d campaign webinar on protecting older adults from social media and AI-driven fraud presented by...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/PEF_Retirees.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/\",\"name\":\"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams - PEF Communicator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/PEF_Retirees.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/PEF_Retirees.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/PEF_Retirees.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"PEF Retirees Crest\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volume 44. No. 1\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-1\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF Communicator\",\"description\":\"NYS PEF Communicator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\",\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/author\\\/ksheehan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams - PEF Communicator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams","og_description":"February 6, 2026 — At the end of January, I participated in a \u201cStop the Scam\u201d campaign webinar on protecting older adults from social media and AI-driven fraud presented by...","og_url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/","og_site_name":"PEF Communicator","article_published_time":"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ksheehan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ksheehan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/"},"author":{"name":"ksheehan","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"headline":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams","datePublished":"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/"},"wordCount":422,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/","name":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams - PEF Communicator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-16T18:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-30T16:43:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/PEF_Retirees.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"PEF Retirees Crest"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/retirees-in-action-protecting-seniors-from-social-media-ai-scams\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Volume 44. No. 1","item":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-1\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"RETIREES IN ACTION: Protecting seniors from social media, AI scams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/","name":"PEF Communicator","description":"NYS PEF Communicator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e","name":"ksheehan","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/author\/ksheehan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8352"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8356,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352\/revisions\/8356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8352"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/division?post=8352"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_regions?post=8352"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_divisions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_divisions?post=8352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}