Chairman Rick Scott Leads Hearing Sounding Alarm on Communist China’s International Scam Enterprise

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Rick Scott of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging convened a hearing titled, "Made in China, Paid by Seniors: Stopping the Surge of International Scams," where he exposed Communist China's international scam enterprise to target and profit off of America's seniors.

Chairman Scott's witnesses included Nathan Picarsic, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Kathy Stokes, senior director of Fraud Prevention at AARP's Fraud Watch Network; and Jacqueline Burns Koven, head of cyber threat intelligence at Chainalysis. Their testimonies outlined how international scam networks operate and exposed how Communist China's digital infrastructure enables cybercrime, fuels human trafficking, and sustains the global scam economy with devastating consequences for American families and seniors.

Chairman Scott has been leading the fight against scams targeting Americans, particularly seniors, and has taken significant action, including:

• Led the bipartisan 2025 Fraud Report, elevating national awareness of financial exploitation targeting seniors;
• Continued the committee's toll-free Fraud Hotline to expand access to education, prevention tools, and direct support for seniors and families; and
• Led and supported legislation to combat financial exploitation and increasingly sophisticated scams, including the:

Watch Chairman Scott's full remarks HERE or by clicking the image above. Read Chairman Scott's remarks as prepared for delivery below:

"The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will now come to order.

Today, we are here to discuss a growing threat to American seniors and our families: the surge of international scams rooted in Communist China and its regional criminal networks.

Scams targeting seniors are stealing billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, and we here in Congress have a responsibility to confront them head-on.

The scope of this problem is staggering. In 2024, older Americans lost more than $4.8 billion to fraud, according to the FBI.

These are retirees who spend decades working, saving, and planning for their futures, only to have their lives upended by monsters operating criminal networks overseas.

As our committee's Age of Fraud report last year makes clear, these are not small-time criminals.

These are highly organized, transnational enterprises, many of them directed or enabled by the Chinese Communist Party.

We know how these groups work. They rely on Chinese platforms, Chinese payment channels, and scam compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and elsewhere - compounds built and staffed by trafficked workers forced to carry out scams targeting Americans.

Not only is this a disgusting display of international failures to protect human rights, dignity, and security, it's also another way Communist China is undermining our country and targeting the American people.

Beijing has allowed this criminal infrastructure to grow and thrive. No matter what you believe - indifference, lack of enforcement, or strategic tolerance -- Communist China is the epicenter of the global scam industry that drains American savings and destabilizes families.

I decided to make this the first hearing of the year to send a clear message that we will not tolerate any further inaction as the CCP seeks to hurt our seniors in what should be their golden years.

Communist China and its criminal enterprise network MUST BE STOPPED.

We have common-sense legislation ready to go that would make a real difference in combating scams and holding those responsible accountable.

At the end of last year, Ranking Member Gillibrand and I, along with our fellow committee members Senators Ashley Moody and Mark Kelly, introduced the National Strategy for Combating Scams Act.

This bill would FINALLY require a coordinated, whole-of-government response to fight fraud, recognizing that after billions upon billions of dollars are being lost every year, it's time we finally get federal, state, and private-sector partners together under a unified strategy.

I am also proud that my Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization or SCAM Act was passed by the Senate last month. This bill would give the Treasury Department the authority to sanction scam compounds and the criminal networks behind them.

Criminals shouldn't be free to hide behind foreign compounds, use Chinese infrastructure, and still access the U.S. financial system.

Additionally, Ranking Member Gillibrand and I are also pushing for the GUARD Act. This bill strengthens penalties against criminals who target older Americans and gives law enforcement more tools to prevent these crimes.

These three bills are bipartisan. They are common-sense. And they are designed to protect the American people.

It is time we all come together and get this legislation passed so we can stop the bleeding of American dollars to international criminals.

Here's the reality: There isn't a person alive who isn't susceptible to Communist China's scams, and they won't stop unless we do something.

We cannot continue to sit idly by as these criminals harm Americans. Now is the time to take action to protect our seniors and every American.

I look forward to a productive discussion today with our witnesses, and I'd now like to recognize Ranking Member Gillibrand for her opening statement."

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