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CFP Board: Protecting Older Americans from the New Face of Fraud
CFP Board thanks the Senate Special Committee on Aging for holding its July 29, 2026 hearing on “The AI Deception Machine: Deepfakes, Chatbots, and the New Frontier of Senior Fraud.” Our June 2026 research report, Don’t Fall For It: Guarding Against Financial Fraud, documents a widening gap between fraud awareness and fraud preparedness. As Scott Kahan, CFP® testified before this Committee in April, older Americans are disproportionately targeted by fraud and relationship scams.
That is why we submitted a letter for the record explaining that financial education and access to competent, ethical financial planning are crucial. CFP® professionals often serve as a client’s first or only meaningful financial educator, providing guidance that extends beyond individual transactions. In this role, CFP® professionals can serve as a first line of defense against fraud — like financial first responders.
In the letter, we also urge the Committee to take the following actions:
- Support the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act (S. 2840) and the Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams, and Disasters Act (S. 1773)
- Close the remaining gaps in delayed disbursement authority and trusted contact designation
- Modernize federal consumer education to reflect how fraud works now
- Increase access to competent and ethical financial planning