WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Senator Cory Gardner (Colo.) introduced bipartisan legislation increasing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) penalties for coronavirus-related scams.
“Increasing penalties for coronavirus-related scams helps protect Arizona seniors from fraudsters seeking to take advantage of this public health emergency,” said Sinema.
Sinema’s bipartisan bill expands FTC authority to stop false advertising during the coronavirus pandemic by increasing civil and criminal penalties on scammers. Increasing penalties deters bad actors and warns the public about coronavirus-related false advertising.
The Senate recently approved Sinema’s bipartisan resolution with Republican Senator Susan Collins (Maine) designating May 15 as National Senior Fraud Awareness Day.
In March, Sinema and a bipartisan group of Senators urged the Federal Trade Commission to protect Arizona seniors from COVID-19 related scams. Given that the most severe cases of COVID-19 in the United States are among seniors, bad actors have used the heightened public fears to target seniors.
Sinema also partnered with the Arizona Attorney General to alert Arizona seniors of COVID-19 related scams and provide seniors with helpful resources in case they are victims of bad actors.
Sinema has also added a resources page in English and Spanish to her website, www.sinema.senate.gov/corona, for Arizonans looking for the latest information on coronavirus.
