Across the nation, senior citizens are all too often the victims of financial exploitation. Unscrupulous individuals who perpetrate sweepstakes fraud, home repair fraud, telemarketing fraud, and insurance and investment frauds often target the elderly. Sadly, even family members and caretakers sometimes view seniors as easy prey. Historically, there have been few resources specially designated for the detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes of a financial nature against seniors who live in the community, and that is where most of the crimes involving financial exploitation occur.

Urge your representatives in government to support all legislation which seeks to

* Protect older citizens from fraud and exploitation, through public education, as well as investigation and prosecution of exploitation cases.

* Provide the necessary funding to assist federal and state law enforcement agencies to investigate reported elderly abuse cases.

* Provide necessary funding for adult protective services working to eliminate the exploitation of the elderly abuse.

* Provide federal and state law enforcement and any other social agency (working on behalf of the elderly) the financial means to pursue cases of financial exploitation of the elderly for prosecution.

* Provide law enforcement agencies across the country with on the identification of Elderly Abuse, first contact.