A senate agent on robo call fraud. A pennsylvania sheriff, u. S. Postal inspector and Telecommunications Consultant testify on the impact of robo call scams and how to better educate the public. An hour and 45 minutes. The hearing will come to order. Good morning. Protect american seniors from scammers who seek to defraud them is a central goal of this committee. In the past six years we have held 23 hearings on fraud and scams targeting our seniors. Using phones and the internet, they have proven to be relentless. To protect our nation seniors, we must continue not only to prosecute con artists who steal literally billions from our seniors, but to also find new, more effective ways to block a legal spoofing and robo calls at the network level. Last year robo callers generated more than 26 billion unwanted calls that reached American Mobile phones. When land lines are included, the number soars to 48 billion. In may alone, our residents received an astonishing 93 million robo calls last year. That is an average of 73 calls to each person in our state. So far this year, scammers are on pace to generate more than 58 billion unwanted, illegal robo calls targeting american consumers. These scammers overwhelmingly are initiated by offshore robo callers who are using new Tech Knowledge he to perpetuate their schemes. Today we will focus on a practice called spoofing. This allows scammers to mask their identity by replacing the caller id tied to their actual phone number with one that fits their story. With the emergence of the modern voice over Internet Protocol Technology criminals can now operate like from call centers anywhere in the world as far away from american Law Enforcement as a can possibly get using voice to hide their identity while generating millions of robo calls at a very low cost. Our committee has called on regulators and the Business Community to Work Together more aggressively to stop scammers from using voip and other technologies to validate fraud. We have seen some progress on that front. U. S. Telecom developed trays back, a program to invite the source of illegal robo calls. Carriers are working to implement new technology called shake and serve that will allow consumers to tell whether or not the caller id that shows up on that phone is legitimate or has been moved but that implementation and the cost of these technologies to protect consumers has been slow. On the Positive Side we are seeing a more aggressive and coordinated approach against robo colors by the federal government. In 2016 the department of justice but a federal investigation they close down five calls centers and a few weeks ago the federal trade commission and its logarithmic partners announced operation call it quits, a major crackdown against foreign and domestic defendants allegedly responsible for more than 1 billion calls to consumers nation wide. The federal vacations commission is also been more active. These federal actions represent progress that are committee has pressed for to crackdown on robo colors. Now the committee is calling for a next generation approach, not only to crackdown on the criminals but to also consider new network Wide Solutions to prevent robo call spoofing fraud in the first place. We recently have taken an important step by passing the trace act of which i was proud to be a cosponsor. I hope it will be signed into law soon. Today along with im introducing the anti spoofing penalties modernization which would which would double existing penalties and by extending the statute of limitations on prosecuting illegal spoofing. Despite all of these efforts the number of robo calls is expected to soar. To defeat these scammers we need new technological approaches and we know from experience that the scammers are restless and relentless and as long as these fraudsters can access our Telephone Network they will continue to flood our phones with billions of calls and search of a victim. The key to defeating these scammers is to block the illegal robo calls from foreign call centers closer to their source before. We learned about new Level Network approaches about the potential to ultimately stop robo call spoofing fraud altogether. Beyond the technology and we will be reminded of this today we must never forget that our purpose is to protect the victims of these notorious scammers. Too many seniors continue to lose their hard earned money and often their entire Retirement Savings to con artists. Even worse as we will hear today the scammers can shatter the lives of seniors and their families and impose a cost that cannot be measured in money alone. Im now pleased to turn to our Ranking Member, senator casey for his opening statement. Thank you, chairman collins for holding this hearing and for your opening statement. I know many in our country are divided on range of issues but we are united as americans and despising these robo calls. For some these calls have become more than just a nuisance but the con artist on the other end of the line often turn a conversation into a heist, literally. They threaten our aging loved ones and rip away their hard earned savings. As we hear today the criminals can also cause terrible tragedy the perpetrators of these crimes must be pursued and prosecuted to the full extent of the law and should be behind bars. I was pleased to support resources for the department of justice and the federal trade commission to successfully engage in two of the largest coordinated sweeps of companies facilitating these calls in the criminals aching them. Unfortunately, even these actions that took place early this year have not deterred the con artists. As one of our witnesses here, sanders from pennsylvania, some fraudsters only seem ever more emboldened. They rigged phone lines so the number shows up on caller id appears to be the number of a local police or Sheriffs Office and sheriff sanders and local lawenforcement officials across the country dont take such impersonation lightly. These schemes are requiring an investment of time and resources from officers across the country instead of focusing only on what they do best keeping our streets and communities safe local Law Enforcement officials must spend precious time keeping the phone lines safe. This is a reason im pleased to have introduced what with senator moran to stop senior scams act just recently. This bill will create another line of defense against scammers by giving bank tellers, cashiers and others the tools to spot a scam and prevent, prevent someone from ever handing over cash to a stranger on the phone. We hope this bill is enacted swiftly. Much of what we will discuss today is how these crimes occur but we must not forget the Important Role the both industry and regulators play in preventing an illegal robo call from being connected in the first place. We must make sure the rules are in place to allow industry to adopt and implement the most up to date Call Authentication and blocking technologies. Im pleased the senate recently passed the trace act as senator collins referred to in that federal Communications Commission recently finalized new rules to help this technology or help get this technology to every consumer with the telephone but as we hear today we have a lot more to do. The mental and financial help indeed the very wellbeing of our loved ones is at stake. For to hearing more from our witnesses and we think our witnesses and i look forward to working with chairman collins and other colleagues to put an end to these destructive calls. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, senator casey. I also want to thank senator scott of florida for being with us today. Hes been an active member of the aging committee and we are very happy to have him here. We will now turn to our witnesses is angela who joined us from texas and is the granddaughter of Marjorie Jones of lake charles louisiana but she testifies in memory of her grandmother and is poised for the scores with hundreds of americans who have fallen victim to alter frauds. I will now turn to the Ranking Member to introduce our witness from the commonwealth. Pleased to introduce sheriff Jerry Sanders from pennsylvania. Sheriff sanders serves as sheriff of [inaudible] since january 2018 and previously served as a sheriffs deputy in the city of philadelphia and later retired as chief inspect inspector. In addition to unfortunate background sheriff sanders is a minister in his church and chaplain of the local retirement community. As we will hear from his testimony even lawenforcement and religious leaders are not spared from getting tangled up in these robo calls. Also i like to welcome the sheriffs wife who is right behind him and his chief deputy like donna who both made the trip to be with us today from Delaware County pennsylvania right next to the lid of the up. Thank you both for being here and sheriff sanders, i look forward to hearing your testimony. Thank you. Our third witness will be Delaney Deleon a postal inspector who oversees the criminal Investigative Unit of the United StatesPostal Service. Throughout her 15 years of service for the Postal Service she has managed to focus on various forms of theft, fraud and Money Laundering the frequently result from these robo calls. Finally, we are pleased to welcome david, he is the Telecommunications Expert who worked in highperformance computer and Networking Technology since 1974. He has implemented the Telecom Industry trace back effort which is tracking down the origin of illegal robo calls. Thank you all for joining us. We will begin with stone check. Good morning. Thank you, chairman collins and Ranking Member casey and other members of the committee for inviting me to be here today. Im very honored. My grandmother, Marjorie Jones, was a victim of elder fraud there are no words to express what she went to me and my family and how much we all loved and adored her. The examples of her faith and love cannot be confined to words that she will forever be missed. My grandmother was targeted and pursued nonstop by a ring of the fraudsters and over time these individuals use creative and cunning tactics to gain her trust. They told her she had one a large cash prize and all she needed to do was pay the taxes and fees. I first realized my grandmother was a victim of elder fraud are the last conversation i ever had with her. Reliving that phone call is painful. She explained she needed 6000 wired to her as soon as possible and her forceful tone and desperation was very upsetting. I could hear the panic in her voice and she was very afraid. This phone call set off many red flags and everyone grew extremely concerned about her financial situation. We do not know of a single time in her entire life where she ever borrowed money from an individual. My father informed me that he had wired her 8000 the week prior and assured me he was trying to find out what was happening. He mentioned his fears that someone was scamming her but because she was so desperate and scared he sent her 6000 and she wanted it anyway. Sadly, she died less than one week later. It pains me to talk about my grandmothers horrific death because she chose to take her own life. It is extremely hard to imagine a loved one committing suicide but she did. These individuals prayed on her and on her good heart and her golden years and the last chapter of her life was taken from her and it is clear to us that the circumstances that led to her death were caused by these criminals after her death we found out just how much the criminals had taken from her but we found hidden in the closet several bags full of wire receipts where she had been sending large sums of money overseas. My family visited these wire Marketing Services to talk with the clerks and discovered they warned her this is not legitimate and they believed it was a scam she continued to wire money but use a different location. We also discovered, not only did they drain her of all the money it took her a lifetime to save but she had taken out a reverse mortgage on her home and she cashed out all her Life Insurance. My grandmother died with 69 in her bank account. In the summer of 2016 we were notified from the department of justice that individuals have committed this crime against her were caught. One of them had been extradited from costa rica and already in the sentencing phase for her punishment. I traveled from houston to charlotte, North Carolina to read my victim impact statement to the court and to finally face one of the individuals who did this. Because of that statement i was invited to speak with former attorney general Jeff Sessions in february 2018 when he announced the elder fraud. Since then ive been contacted by Many Americans facing the exact type of scam. Personally, i know to other close Family Friends that have been impacted by the grandparent scam and the medical Debt Collection scam. On behalf of my grandmother, Marjorie Jones i want to thank the committee for hearing and exploring the growing fraud against the elderly. We live in a fastpaced youthoriented society and elder issues are not high on the social agenda but you have the ability to show great leisure by shining a light on the topic. Again, i thank you for your passion that has helped raise awareness thank you for organizing that as a society and the government and as individuals we must increase our efforts to ensure that our seniors are protected from the criminals that pray on them. Our seniors in this country deserve to live out their lives with dignity and honor. Thank you very much for your living testimony and for your willingness to come forward and share such a painful, horrible story with us. Because you have been willing to do that i am sure that you have alerted so many around this nation and that is a tremendous way to honor the memory of your grandmother. I thank you for your courage and speaking out publicly. Im so sorry for what you and your family have endured. Thank you for being here. Sheriff sanders. Chairman collins, Ranking Member casey, members of the committee, i met sheriff Jerry Sanders junior and sir at the sheriff in pennsylvania. Thank you for the opportunity to testify for the committee about my offices experience with scammers using rubble call and spoofing technologies. The Delaware CountySheriffs Office experiences occasional reports from citizens about receiving spam or robo calls from unknown persons. These scams very but the most common form is the caller claims the potential victim has missed jury duty and there is a warrant for their arrest. The color will edify themselves as a member of the Sheriffs Office, typically using a fake name. In one recent incident the caller use the name of an actual deputy going so far as to use the deputys voicemail greeting as their own. If the Sheriffs Office is able to get a number from a potential victim calling it back typically results in no answer. On occasion someone will answer once they realize the call is from the Sheriffs Office and we are asking a legitimate question the typically terminate the call. Another aspect of this is the colors often use spoofing technology. This is when they are able to program the actual Sheriffs Office main number to show on the potential victims caller id. This is often how we found out about the calls. Potential victim in most cases people who realize something was amiss terminate the call because back using the display number which is the Actual Office number. We will tell them that this is a scam and the Sheriffs Office does not call people that we have business with. Its either done through u. S. Mail or in most cases in personal service by the deputy. In addition under no circumstances will we ever ask for information over the phone and never ask for money or other valuable things to avoid obligations for risk. In two separate incidences occurred over the last several months professionals were targeted and the scammers convinced two of them they were subject to arrest for missing jury duty and in one case they were able to get the victim to travel a bank to withdraw 3000 and then on to Retail Establishments where she was instructed to purchase thousands of dollars in money cards. Or gift cards. She ended up mailing them all. The victims husband grew suspicious and looked on the sheriffs webpage on the county website and saw the scam alert but it was too late. In the most recent case a similar ruse was used and they advised one of the victims am a 55 yearold doctor, that he was subject to arrest for not responding to eight grand jury subpoena. They had them convinced enough that they had him on the phone for approximately one hour and had coaxed him all the way to a bank in pennsylvania. Thats approximately 10 miles, 20 minutes away. They instructed him to withdraw 6000 and advised him he should stay on the phone, not answer or communicate with anyo