118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
Designating March 9, 2023, as “National Slam the Scam Day” to raise awareness about pervasive government imposter scams, and to promote education to prevent government imposter scams.
March 9, 2023
Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Braun) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to
Designating March 9, 2023, as “National Slam the Scam Day” to raise awareness about pervasive government imposter scams, and to promote education to prevent government imposter scams.
Whereas hundreds of thousands of individuals in the United States are targeted by government imposter scams each year, including Social Security-related and Internal Revenue Service-related government imposter scams;
Whereas government imposter scams involve scammers contacting individuals in the United States and impersonating employees of government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, to demand payment or personal information, which defrauds individuals of the United States and erodes trust in the government agencies that the scammers impersonate;
Whereas, since 2013, the fraud hotline of the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate has received more than 10,000 complaints from individuals in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, of which 1⁄3 were reporting possible government imposter scams;
Whereas there were more than 191,000 government imposter scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022;
Whereas the Federal Trade Commission has estimated that victims lost almost $509,000,000 in government imposter scams in 2022;
Whereas, according to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2022, older adults reported larger median individual losses as a result of government imposter scams than younger adults;
Whereas, according to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2022, individuals in the United States reported losing more than $104,500,000 to Social Security-related imposter scams;
Whereas, in 2022, Social Security-related imposter scams represented the largest category of complaints received by the fraud hotline of the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate; and
Whereas increased awareness of, and education about, government imposter scams help to thwart government imposter scammers: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
(1) designates March 9, 2023, as “National Slam the Scam Day”;
(2) recognizes National Slam the Scam Day as an opportunity to raise awareness about scams that involve individuals impersonating government employees by any means, including by mail, telephone, electronic mail, or internet websites (referred to in this resolving clause as “government imposter scams”);
(3) recognizes that law enforcement agencies, consumer protection groups, telephone companies, area agencies on aging, and financial institutions all play vital roles in—
(A) preventing government imposter scams from targeting the people of the United States; and
(B) educating the people of the United States about government imposter scams;
(A) the implementation of policies to prevent government imposter scams; and
(B) the improvement of measures to protect the people of the United States from government imposter scams;
(5) encourages members of the public to—
(A) ignore solicitations from individuals falsely claiming to represent government agencies;
(B) share information about government imposter scams with family and friends; and
(C) report government imposter scams to—
(i) the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration;
(ii) the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; or
(iii) the Federal Trade Commission; and
(6) honors the commitment and dedication of the individuals and organizations that work tirelessly to fight against government imposter scams.