U.S. securities regulators are concerned with investment seminars targeting seniors, according to a report released on Monday.

During the second annual Seniors Summit held today at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state securities regulators (members of the North American Securities Administrators Association) revealed the findings of a year-long examination that scrutinized 110 securities firms and branch offices that sponsor so-called “free-lunch seminars”.

They found that: 100% of the “seminars” were actually sales presentations; 59% reflected weak supervisory practices by firms; 50% featured exaggerated or misleading advertising claims; 23% involved possibly unsuitable recommendations; and, 13% appeared to be fraudulent and have been referred to the most appropriate regulator for possible enforcement or disciplinary action.

Examiners found indications of possible fraudulent practices in 14 cases that involved apparent serious misrepresentations of risk and return, possible liquidation of accounts without the customer’s knowledge or consent, and possible sales of fictitious investments.

“These findings are a wake-up call for securities regulators, the financial services industry and especially older investors,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “Not only were virtually all of the ‘free lunch’ seminars sales jobs in disguise, but half made misleading or exaggerated claims, and more than a third had unsuitable recommendations or outright fraud.”

The report’s recommendations include: that financial services firms review their supervisory practices and supervise sales seminars more closely, and redouble their efforts to ensure that the investment recommendations they make to seniors are suitable; it also recommends that ongoing investor education efforts for seniors should provide education with respect to “free lunch” sales seminars.

Cox pledged that the SEC and its fellow regulators intend to put a stop to these sorts of frauds. “We will step in whenever false claims are being made. We will sanction crooks who try to feast on the life savings of older investors. And we will work with every honest securities firm to help them do more to ensure that their interactions with older investors fully comply with the securities laws. I applaud the securities examiners whose collective work has clearly shown that there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” he added.

Research by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that 78% of seniors received a free lunch seminar invitation and 60% received six or more invitations in the past three years.

FINRA CEO Mary Schapiro said: “With almost 8 out of 10 seniors being targeted with these tactics, the findings underscore a true need for increased educational and enforcement efforts. I’m concerned that as the population grows older, these strong-arm tactics will only grow more sophisticated. We need to send a clear message right now that high pressure sales activity is simply unacceptable. No one has the right to prey on susceptible investors.”