AARP-Backed Bill Targets AI Deepfake Scams

American consumers age 60 and older lost nearly $5 billion to scams and fraud last year, per a 2024 FBI report, and artificial intelligence is making it even easier for criminals to steal people’s money.

Concern is especially high in the financial industry, where scammers can use deepfake technology — AI-generated audio and video — to impersonate people and hack into bank accounts. An AARP survey from August 2024 showed that an overwhelming majority — 77 percent — of older Americans are concerned they will become targets of AI-related fraud. Eighty-five percent of those surveyed are concerned about deepfakes in general.

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To help tackle the problem, AARP endorsed the Senate’s bipartisan Preventing Deep Fakes Scams Act this week. AARP also endorsed the companion bipartisan bill in the House. The bill would establish a dedicated federal task force to examine the positive and negative impacts of AI on the financial services industry. 

The panel would include industry representatives, AI experts and others. It would be charged with examining how criminals use AI in financial scams and how the industry can leverage the technology to better detect fraud and stay ahead of scammers.

The bill would also require the task force to explore the use of AI in the financial sector to commit and detect fraud and to work on interagency solutions.

AARP Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Bill Sweeney wrote in a June 17 letter to Sens. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Raphael Warnock (D- Ga.) that “by fostering collaboration and innovation among stakeholders, this legislation will help ensure the financial industry and its regulators better understand AI’s use to proactively mitigate AI-related threats, ensuring that older Americans are better shielded from fraud, data theft, and identity fraud.” 

Husted wrote in a statement after introducing the bill: “Scammers are using deep fakes to impersonate victims’ family members in order to steal their money. As fraudsters continue to scheme, we need to make sure we utilize AI so that we can better protect innocent Americans and prevent these scams from happening in the first place.” 

Protecting older adults from fraud remains a top priority for AARP. In 2024, AARP joined White House officials and industry leaders for a meeting aimed at helping the federal government fight the use of AI-enabled voice cloning to commit fraud.

 ​AARP also manages the Fraud Watch Network, a free resource that can help older Americans prevent and spot potential scams and signs of abuse, and the BankSafe initiative, which teaches bank, credit union and retail employees how to spot and stop potential financial exploitation before any funds are transferred. If you’ve been targeted by a scam, call our Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 for support.