A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Wednesday that aims to protect seniors from financial scams, according to details shared first with Semafor.
Lawmakers hope it hitches a ride to the Senate Banking Committeeās forthcoming capital formation package; the House passed identical legislation combatting scams as part of its own capital formation package last year.
The proposal from Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Dave McCormick, R-Pa., would create a federal task force at the Securities and Exchange Commission that would āconfront these crimes,ā Kim said.
Seniors lost as much as $81.5 billion to financial fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
āIāve seen firsthand the devastating impact these scams have ā¦ and how far too often federal agencies remain unprepared,ā Gillibrand, the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, said.