San Francisco is launching what city leaders call the first program of its kind in the country to help combat the growing number of scams and fraud cases.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost $158 billion to fraud last year, with losses increasing 25% in 2024 alone.
City leaders say while adults 60 and older are especially vulnerable, scams are affecting people of all ages across San Francisco and California.
Among those sharing their experience is Jonah Raskin, a retired Sonoma State University communications professor, who said he lost $30,000 in a scam.
Raskin joined city officials and San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros as the city unveiled Stop Scams SF.
Officials said adults 60 and older reported losing $2.4 billion to fraud in 2024, up from $600 million in 2020.
The city said the new initiative combines free financial counseling, real-time alerts about emerging scams and reforms aimed at making scams easier to identify, particularly in interactions with the public sector.
Officials said the program will be privately funded for its first three years.