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SENATOR FEENEY FILES LEGISLATION TO COMBAT FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION OF SENIORS, VULNERABLE ADULTS

(Boston—7/6/23) In the wake of recent and ongoing financial scams levied against many of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents, Senator Feeney has filed legislation to protect Massachusetts seniors and at-risk adults from financial exploitation, in collaboration with Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.  

 

“An Act protecting seniors and adults with disabilities from financial exploitation” works with trusted financial institutions to identify scams in progress, protect and prevent victims of exploitation and root-out bad actors. The bill does this by creating a reporting system with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth to ensure no case of exploitation falls through the cracks. If a qualified individual – defined to include any agent, investment adviser representative, bank employee, or person who serves in a supervisory, compliance, or legal capacity for a financial institution – has reasonable cause to believe financial exploitation of a senior or person with a disability has occurred or is being attempted, they are empowered to notify the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, relevant adult protective services agencies, or any third party previously designated by the eligible adult, so that all appropriate agencies are notified and can work towards protecting the targeted individual.   


“This bill is all about protecting Massachusetts seniors, family members, neighbors, and friends from being taken advantage of by tech savvy, often international, crime syndicates, that prey on the most vulnerable” said State Senator Paul Feeney (D-Foxborough), Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services. “Too often, unsuspecting residents are being scammed by allusive criminals out of their hard-earned savings by the use of fear, manipulation, and retaliation. By the time the scam is uncovered it is usually too late and only after the victim’s account has been wiped out. If we create the right mechanism for that crime-in-progress to be halted, by empowering trusted financial institutions, and equipping them with the tools to intervene in real-time when they suspect such crimes are happening, we can prevent the disastrous loss of people’s savings that often occurs. I’m grateful to Secretary Galvin for identifying an innovative and powerful solution to this problem and look forward to working alongside Representative Murphy as we engage our legislative colleagues, banks, law enforcement agencies, consumer protection advocates, and other stakeholders to move forward with this proposal.” 

 

When a qualified individual has cause to believe financial exploitation is occurring, this bill authorizes a financial institution to delay disbursements or transactions to prevent additional exploitation in real-time. If a disbursement or transaction is delayed, the financial institution must notify the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and relevant adult protective services agencies within 2 days of the delay. The financial institution must also review the transaction and disbursement internally and report on the results of the investigation within 7 business days of the initial delay. If financial exploitation is determined not to have occurred, the delay must cease within 15 business days after the initial delay. Additionally, the bill requires financial institutions to provide access to records to the Secretary, relevant adult protective service agencies, or law enforcement that are relevant to suspected or attempted exploitation, and provides that such records shall not  be considered public records. Qualified individuals acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care in compliance with this proposed legislation are  immune from administrative or civil liability that might otherwise arise from such action.  

 

The filing of this bill comes on the heels of yet another unfortunate, and preventable, case of senior financial exploitation in the Commonwealth. On July 5, 2023, The Boston Globe reported that a 93-year-old Massachusetts resident was scammed into withdrawing $9,500 in cash for what she thought was bail money to get her granddaughter Abby out of jail. The scammer even went so far as faking a conversation with “Abbey’s lawyer” on the phone in a successful attempt to make the scam more convincing. These criminals will stop at nothing to swindle residents out of their hard-earned money, and it is critical that financial institutions have the tools in place to stop this exploitation in real-time to prevent future such incidents. With this bill, qualified individuals would have the resources and protections necessary to do just that by delaying the disbursement or transaction if exploitation is suspected and notifying the proper government agencies to stop the crime in its tracks.  

 

This bill has been assigned a docket number and will receive a bill number once assigned to a legislative committee, where it will receive a public hearing. 

 

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