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Older Americans reportedly lost $1.1 billion to fraud in 2022, according to the annual Senate Committee on Aging report released this month, and most of the scams utilized AI technology to clone the voices of people they knew and other AI-generated ploys.

During a Thursday committee hearing on AI scams, committee chairman Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., published the group’s annual fraud book highlighting the top scams last year. It found that from January 2020 to June 2021, the FBI found “individuals reportedly lost $13 million to grandparent and person-in-need scams.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, also a member of the committee, said the $1.1 billion figure in total losses is “almost surely an underestimate,” since it does not factor in the instances of victims who don’t report scams due to embarrassment.

Casey said in a statement that “federal action” is needed to put up guardrails to protect consumers from AI-generated scams. There are currently very little regulations on AI capacities, which witnesses urged lawmakers to crack down on through legislation.

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“Any consumer, no matter their age, gender, or background, can fall victim to these ultra-convincing scams, and the stories we heard today from individuals across the country are heartbreaking,” he said. “As a parent and grandparent, I relate to the fear and concern these victims must feel.”

The top 10 categories of scams reported in the fraud book were financial impersonation and fraud, robocalls, computer scams, catfishing on dating profiles, identity theft and others.

The most prominent scams used AI technology to mimic people’s voices who then make calls to the victims, family members or loved ones, asking for money. Several testimonies from witnesses in the hearing said they received calls that sounded exactly like their loved one was in danger, was injured or was being held hostage.

Tahir Ekin, PhD, director of the Texas State Center for Analytics and Data Science, who was present at the hearing, testified this deliberate strategy of impersonation catapults “their believability and emotional appeal.”

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“Prioritizing the enhancement of data and AI literacy among older Americans, and actively involving them in prevention and detection efforts, stands as a cornerstone,” he said.

One older couple, featured in a video testimony in the hearing, received a call from who they thought was their daughter. She sounded distressed and asked for help.

“My daughter was, she was crying on the phone, profusely crying and saying, ‘mom, mom, mom,’ and of course my wife was saying, ‘LeAnn, LeAnn, what is the matter?’, and she repeated it again, ‘mom, mom, mom’ and it sounded exactly like her,” Terry Holtzapple, one of the victims, said.

Gary Schildhorn, a Philadelphia-based attorney and another targeted victim of an AI voice clone scam, also testified at the hearing. He almost sent $9,000 to the scammer until he confirmed with his daughter-in-law it was an extortion attempt.

The scammer, posing as an attorney, called Schildhorn requesting funds to bail his son out of jail for causing a car accident and failing a breathalyzer test.

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“There was no doubt in my mind that it was his voice on the phone — it was the exact cadence with which he speaks,” he said. “I sat motionless in my car just trying to process these events. How did they get my son’s voice? The only conclusion I can come up with is that they used artificial intelligence, or AI, to clone his voice… it is manifestly apparent that this technology… provide[s] a riskless avenue for fraudsters to prey on us.”

Since no money was sent, however, law enforcement told Schildhorn that no crime had been committed and no further action was taken.

“With crypto and AI, law enforcement does not have a remedy,” Schildhorn said during the hearing. “There needs to be some legislation to allow these people to be identified… so that there’s a remedy for the harm that’s being caused. Currently, there’s no remedy,” he said.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, elderly Americans are more likely to fall prey to online scams than younger people. 

Members of Congress belonging to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have not condemned the violent anti-Israel protest that targeted the headquarters of their own party in Washington, D.C., this week.

The offices of representatives Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Greg Casar, D-Texas; and Cori Bush, D-Mo., did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment concerning the violence that erupted Wednesday when pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war rioted outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

None have released a public statement addressing the violence, other than Bush sharing a statement on X from left-wing group IfNotNow Movement blasting House Speaker Mike Johnson for his criticism of the protest.

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U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) responded to what they said were 150 people “illegally and violently protesting” near the DNC headquarters building in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The ensuing clash led to a number of injuries to police and protesters and led to the evacuation of multiple Democratic members of Congress and candidates attending a reception inside the building at the time.

USCP confirmed on X that six officers were injured during the clash, which included injuries ranging from minor cuts and pepper spray burns and punches from protesters.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who was inside the DNC during the protest, told Fox the violence “rattled” her more than the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, while Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., who was also inside, said many anti-Israel protesters are being “duped” into supporting Hamas terrorism.

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Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, Casar and Bush’s refusal to condemn the violence comes just weeks after the DSA was blasted as “morally bankrupt” over its response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 Israelis, including children and babies.

DSA founding member Maurice Isserman, who issued the criticism, announced in October he was leaving the organization.

“I left to protest the DSA leadership’s politically and morally bankrupt response to the horrific Hamas Oct. 7 anti-Jewish pogrom that took the lives of 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and saw over 200 hostages carried off to Gaza, both groups of victims including children and infants,” he wrote in piece published in The Nation headlined, “Why I Just Quit DSA.”

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Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., announced just two weeks earlier he was renouncing his DSA membership over the group’s backing of a “hate-filled and antisemitic” rally in New York City following the Hamas attack.

“After the brutal terrorist attacks on Israel, which included the indiscriminate murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent men, women, and children, I can no longer associate with an organization unwilling to call out terrorism in all forms,” Thanedar posted on X.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Adam Sabes, Kelley Kramer and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

The city of Denver has spent millions of dollars in the last year transporting thousands of migrants to other parts of the country, officials confirmed this week.

CBS News first reported that Denver has spent nearly $4.5 million transporting more than 12,000 migrants out-of-state.

A spokesperson for the city’s government confirmed the figures to Fox News Digital.

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“We provide migrant guests who wish to stay in Denver with shelter and support. However, we also understand that many individuals arriving in Denver from the southern border have other destinations in mind,” the spokesperson said. “This is often because they have built-in support systems from family and friends in those cities, or because they believe they will have a better chance at finding work that suits their skills.”

“Our priority is to ensure migrant guests are treated fairly and are placed in the situation that fits their needs. Individual tickets are purchased based on destination requests directly from migrants to various cities, after insurances are gathered that the individual or family truly desires the intended location,” they said. 

CBS reported that the transport costs are for plane, bus and train tickets, although the number of plane tickets was relatively few with only a few hundred purchased.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was one of a number of mayors who recently appealed to the White House for financial help from the federal government. They are seeking $5 billion in aid, while the administration is seeking around $1.4 billion from Congress as part of a $14 billion supplemental for border security.

Denver confirmed in September that its expenses for migrant sheltering were close to $25 million. The city had declared a state of emergency late last year after numbers shot up in December.

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Denver put certain limits on migrant shelter earlier this year, including a 30-day limit for how long migrants can stay in a shelter, as well as bars on returns and migrants engaging in “illegal activity.”

Migrant transportation has been a controversial political issue, particularly after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last year that he would bus migrants to sanctuary cities. He has also sent buses to Denver.

Meanwhile, in New York City where there have been over 130,000 migrant arrivals since last year, the city has slashed budgets for education, policing and sanitation, citing the spiraling costs of the crisis it is facing.