This week, U.S. Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney voted to pass the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act, legislation to increase protections against scams and protect seniors’ savings. Maloney is advocating to address predatory robocalls and other malicious scam techniques.
“As scammers use increasingly sophisticated tricks to target our seniors, it’s essential that we invest in tools to combat their scams and protect seniors’ hard-earned savings,” said Maloney. “The Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act will go directly after scammers by increasing the resources available to investigators and will help protect seniors by investing in anti-fraud, educational programs.”
“As a coordinator for a Town of Newburgh senior program, I hear this all the time. Our seniors worried about being scammed out of their savings and needing help to identify scams,” said Anita Manley, Coordinator, Town of Newburgh Friends of Seniors.
The bill will invest $10 million annually for investigative staff, technology, and training for law enforcement. The money will also be invested in equipment and increase the number of regulators to educate seniors on financial fraud.
Maloney also supported a separate bill which requires that phone carriers implement call authentication technology so consumers can trust their caller ID. This allows carriers to offer call-blocking services to consumers, with no additional line-item charge. It also requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enact safeguards so companies can’t abuse robocall exemptions.
