Doctors to Become First Line of Defense Against Scams

A major public initiative to crack down on investment fraud by training thousands of doctors to spot older patients who may be particularly vulnerable, and then refer them to securities regulators and social workers, is going national after a successful pilot run in Texas.

The unprecedented effort, a collaboration between investor protection groups, medical associations, adult protection services and regulators in 22 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, aims to tackle investment scams targeting seniors as a medical challenge rather than as a problem for law enforcement.