U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, reintroduced Wednesday, Feb. 24, their bipartisan legislation to crack down on fraud targeting seniors.
The Seniors Fraud Prevention Act is intended to help fight scams designed to rob seniors of their assets by directing the Federal Trade Commission to create an office to educate seniors about fraud schemes while also improving the agency’s monitoring and response to fraud complaints. The legislation is led in the U.S. House by Representatives by Ted Deutch, D-Fla, Vern Buchanan, R-Fla, and Peter Welch, D-Vt.
“All Americans deserve safety and dignity in their senior years, but too often, older Americans are the targets of deceptive scams,” Klobuchar stated in a news release. “New schemes designed to defraud seniors appear almost daily and can have serious consequences, such as wiping out a person’s entire life savings. This bipartisan legislation is a critical step towards combating fraud targeting seniors by identifying scams and educating consumers to prevent more seniors from falling victim to these tactics.”
“Raising awareness — particularly among older Americans who are more likely to be targeted by financial scams — is key to protecting seniors’ hard-earned savings,” Collins stated in the release. “The Seniors Fraud Prevention Act would help enhance fraud monitoring, increase consumer education, and strengthen the complaint tracking system to help prevent seniors from being robbed of their hard-earned savings through threatening and manipulative scams.”
Klobuchar and Collins have introduced this bill in the three previous Congresses. Last Congress, the legislation passed the House and Senate.
