A bipartisan bill cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) on April 15 passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of a larger anti-fraud measure the congressman also supports to protect older Americans.
“We must do everything we can to protect the savings and dignity of older Americans from the scam artists and con men who try to defraud them,” Rep. Buchanan said.
Rep. Buchanan on Feb. 11 introduced the Seniors Fraud Protection Act, H.R. 982, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), which would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish an office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on preventing fraud targeting seniors and to assist the FTC in monitoring the market for mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call (robocall) fraud targeting seniors.
H.R. 982 was rolled into the bipartisan Fraud and Scam Reduction Act, H.R. 1215, which Reps. Buchanan and Deutch cosponsored on Feb. 23 to expand activities to address mail, telephone and internet fraud, particularly scams targeting older adults. H.R. 1215, which was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), would establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Group, which must create model educational materials to educate employees of retailers, financial-services companies, and wire-transfer companies on how to identify and prevent scams that affect older adults, according to the congressional record bill summary.
The House voted 396-13 to pass H.R. 1215, which now advances to the U.S. Senate.
“This is an important safeguard for seniors who have worked their entire lives with the promise of a safe and secure retirement,” said Rep. Buchanan. “Unfortunately, criminals are taking advantage of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and working overtime to target them. Scams targeting the elderly threaten more than retirement accounts – they imperil the independence and trust of an already vulnerable community.”