The House of Representatives voted 221-205 this week to pass the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act (H.R. 2668), which will help the Federal Trade Commission recover refunds for individuals harmed by telecommunications fraud and other scams.
“Over the past year, Americans lost nearly $30 billion at the hands of phone scammers,” said Congresswoman Elaine Luria, who voted with the majority. “We must do more to protect Americans from bad actors who seek to steal their personal information and hard-earned money. Today, the House voted to ensure that the Federal Trade Commission has the tools it needs to recover stolen property on behalf of victims of fraud.”
The Consumer Protection and Recovery Act would amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to explicitly reaffirm the FTC’s longstanding authority to obtain relief, including monetary redress for consumers in court for all violations of the laws it enforces.
The bill would make it clear that the FTC can pursue many avenues of relief, including restitution for losses, contract reformation and recission, monetary refunds, and the refund of property, as well as requiring scammers to return their ill-gotten gains.
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