OFFICE OF SEN. MORAN
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – Chairman of the Senate Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security Subcommittee – convened the subcommittee’s first hearing of the 115th Congress Tue., March 21, to examine the damage of scams on American consumers and the economy. The hearing also focused on state and federal law enforcement efforts to combat consumer scams, and the implementation of consumer outreach and education programs.
“With technology becoming more and more sophisticated, the complexity of scams has continued to progress,” said Sen. Moran. “From fake charity donation solicitation calls to ‘phishing’ email scams that lead to identity theft, a wide variety of scams that harm Americans continue to bypass consumer protection enforcement measures at the federal, state and local levels. Consumers need protection from those who seek to defraud them through scams, and today’s hearing helps us evaluate the best possible ways we can prevent American consumers from being scammed out of billions of dollars each year.”
Witnesses included Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen; Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Terrell McSweeny; Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine; Abagnale & Associates Consultant Frank W. Abagnale, Jr.; and KWCH-12 Eyewitness News Reporter Mike Schwanke, Wichita.
Sen. Moran invited KWCH’s Mike Schwanke to testify and share with the committee examples of the more common scams impacting Kansas consumers. Three examples mentioned: grandparent scams, when someone calls claiming that a consumer’s grandchild is in danger and needs immediate financial assistance; IRS scams, in which consumers receive a phone call from someone claiming to represent the IRS and threatening jail time for failure to pay taxes; and most recently, a scam taking advantage of those impacted by the state’s wildfires, in which Kansans received phone calls claiming that, if they paid an application fee, they would be issued a government grant to help them recover.