Senators’ bill cuts red tape and creates a single point of contact at the Social Security Administration for identity theft cases
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Senate Finance Committee leaders Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced the Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act – bipartisan legislation making it easier for identity theft victims to resolve their cases by creating a single point of contact at the Social Security Administration for identity theft cases.
“Our commonsense, bipartisan bill cuts red tape and helps Arizonans recover after being targeted by scammers and more easily resolve their issues with the Social Security Administration,” said Sinema.
“Identity theft causes a great deal of stress. The last thing victims need when seeking assistance is to rehash the details for multiple federal agents, only to hang up the phone and feel like they got the runaround,” Grassley said. “Our legislation would ensure Americans have a single point of contact at the Social Security Agency to help them navigate identify theft claims.”
“For seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries, this important, bipartisan legislation will ensure they no longer have to navigate through a difficult process of contacting a new Social Security Administration case worker at each step of resolving their identity-theft issues,” said Crapo. “This smart, reasonable, and bipartisan legislation will help victims of identity theft more easily resolve problems that result from fraud.”
“Americans who have been targeted by identity theft scammers should be able to resolve their case without any bureaucratic red tape or delays,” Wyden said. “That’s why I’m working on a bipartisan basis to advance legislation that will make it easier for victims of identity theft to work with a dedicated point of contact at Social Security to resolve their issue.”
The bipartisan legislation requires the Social Security Administration to provide identity theft victims with a single point of contact to help guide them through resolving various issues within the Social Security Administration.
Sinema has long championed Arizonans who have fallen victim to illegal scams. The Senate has unanimously approved Sinema’s bipartisan resolution designating Senior Fraud Awareness Day for several years in a row. While Sinema was in the U.S. House, she worked with the then-Chair of the Senate Aging Committee, Republican Senator Susan Collins (Maine), to pass the Senior Safe Act into law, empowering financial institutions to report suspected instances of elder financial abuse and fraud. In the U.S. Senate, Sinema and Senator Collins continued their work by introducing the Senior Security Act, which would create a task force at the Securities and Exchange Commission to protect seniors from financial crimes, and the Anti-Spoofing Penalties Modernization Act, which would increase penalties for criminals who use misleading robocalls to harass and defraud seniors and veterans.
While serving in the U.S. House, Sinema also partnered with Republican Senator Tim Scott (S.C.) to pass the Protecting Children from Identity Theft Act, requiring the Social Security Administration to develop a database to facilitate the verification of consumer information upon request by a certified financial institution to especially protect children who are often targeted for identity theft. She also successfully advocated on behalf of Arizona parents and children to cut red tape at the Social Security Administration, ensuring victims of identity theft can get new Social Security Numbers and the fresh start they deserve.