Bill cosponsored by Guthrie passes House, aims to better protect against fraud
WASHINGTON– This week, officials say a bill cosponsored by Congressman Brett Guthrie passed the House to offer better protections for older adults against fraud schemes.
According to a release by Guthrie’s office, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2978, the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception (GUARD) Act by a vote of 414 to seven. Officials say the bill would give additional funding to law enforcement agencies to protect older adults from fraud.
“I am glad to see this commonsense legislation advance out of the House of Representatives to protect seniors from fraud with wide bipartisan support,” said Guthrie. “As technology continues to rapidly advance, so too does scammers’ ability to target and defraud Americans – especially our senior population. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation and am confident it will help our local law enforcement hire additional officers to protect Kentuckians for years to come.”
The GUARD Act would enable law enforcement to use funding from existing federal law enforcement grant programs to support retention and training of personnel and other activities associated with countering financial fraud, elder fraud and confidence schemes, such as relationship scams, phishing and other scams, officials say.
According to Guthrie’s office, the legislation would require local and state agencies using the funds to report how they are implementing them and require the issuing federal agency to report yearly how the grants are being used.
Guthrie’s office says the Federal Trade Commission has reported Americans lost nearly $16 billion in fraud schemes in 2025, with the actual amount being estimated at over $190 billion due to many schemes going unreported.
Officials say the bill, introduced by Congressman Zach Nunn (IA-02), is supported by AARP, the National Police Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association.
News 40 will provide additional updates as they are released.
