FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — It's estimated that financial scams cost seniors $3 billion a year, but law enforcement and officials are looking for ways to prevent this fraud. 

Financial adviser Alan Porter with Strategic Wealth Strategies of Fayetteville says lawmakers are working to improve education about fraud targeting seniors. 

“On a national level, lawmakers have introduced a bill called the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act. The hope is to create a department within the Federal Trade Commission that educates seniors about fraud. The bill is currently in Congress,” Porter said.

At the local level, North Carolina law prohibits the use of fraud, a falsehood or deceptive statement to obtain property or a thing of value.

Porter shared some steps people can take to avoid becoming a victim of such scams. 

“There are impostor scams where scammers impersonate officials from the Social Security Administration, Medicare office, the IRS or even pose as a panicked grandchild in order to steal money or personal information,” Porter said.

Porter says the IRS will never ask for personal information over the phone, and the Social Security Administration will never call you out of the blue.

“Watch out for bogus emails that ask to verify personal information like bank routing and account numbers. Watch for pop-up browser windows simulating virus-scanning software,” Porter said.

Porter says these can trick the victim into downloading a fake antivirus program, which is most likely a virus.

Here’s what you can do if you become a victim:

• Report it — Porter says you should file a report with the N.C. Attorney General's Office
• File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
• If you find something that looks suspicious on your credit card, freeze the payments and get a new card number

May is Older Americans Month and May 15 is National Senior Fraud Awareness Day.