By Sharon Aron Baron
While the Senate hearings are underway to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol riots, U.S. Representatives Ted Deutch D-FL, Vern Buchanan R-FL, and Peter Welch D-VT reintroduced bipartisan legislation to protect seniors.
The Seniors Fraud Prevention Act helps protect seniors and their families from becoming the victims of fraudulent schemes designed to steal their assets.
During the last Congress, the Seniors Fraud Prevention Act was incorporated as Title II of the Stop Senior Scams Act (H.R. 2610). The Stop Seniors Scams Act passed the House of Representatives on November 17, 2020, and passed the Senate on December 17, 2020.
However, it was not signed into law under President Donald Trump.
This bill would create an office within the Federal Trade Commission charged with tracking scams, educating and alerting seniors to new scams, and establishing a more effective complaint system to ensure the appropriate law enforcement agency quickly addresses fraud reports.
One in 20 seniors in the U.S. is a target of fraud schemes, costing them at least $36.5 billion per year. Yet, the National Adult Protective Services Association has found that only 1 in 44 seniors actually report that they are victims of a fraud scheme.
“Seniors are often the biggest targets for scammers trying to confuse and cheat them to give up money and personal information,” said Congressman Ted Deutch. “We need a stronger federal effort to track, target, and warn against these fraudulent schemes. This bill will strengthen important consumer protections to help seniors protect their assets.”
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