U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, introduced bipartisan legislation to protect the nation’s senior citizens from consumer financial fraud.
Sen. Moran on Jan. 16 introduced the Stop Senior Scams Act, S. 149, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
“Our nation’s seniors are among the most vulnerable consumers in this digital age — mistakenly falling victim to scammers that steal their money, identity and dignity,” Sen. Moran said on Wednesday. “This legislation would bring key industry and government leaders together to make certain we are doing all we can to protect seniors.”
If enacted, S. 149 would ensure retailers, financial institutions and wire transfer companies have resources to train employees on how to spot and stop financial scams at the point of sale, he added.
Among other provisions, S. 149 would establish the federal Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council, which would be charged with developing educational materials for retailers, financial institutions and wire transfer companies to use in their employee trainings.
“I’m proud to introduce this widely supported, bipartisan bill with Senator Casey that would provide resources, materials and programs on fraud prevention,” said Sen. Moran.
He and Sen. Casey in September 2018 introduced the same-named S. 3522 during the 115th Congress, and the bipartisan measure was considered in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The newly unveiled S. 149 is now under consideration by the same Senate committee.
“The Stop Senior Scams Act is a common sense proposal that would help stop a payment before it is made so seniors don’t lose one more penny to a fraud or scam,” said Sen. Casey this week.
The bill’s sponsors added that S. 149 already has garnered the support of AARP, Amazon, Best Buy, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Reports, the National Consumers League, the National Retail Federation, Target, Walmart, and Western Union, among others.