Knox Times

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., – On June 9, U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (TN-02) reintroduced legislation to improve protections for veterans against mail fraud.  

The Veterans Protection from Fraud Act would add up to 10 years to a prison sentence for a criminal convicted of committing or conspiracy to commit telemarketing or email marketing fraud that targeted a veteran of any age. 

“I've heard veterans in my district say that they've been targeted by these scammers and it's absolutely sickening” said Rep. Burchett. “These people are our nation's finest and anyone trying to scam them deserves to have the book thrown at them. This legislation would do that and I'm proud to reintroduce it.”  

Veterans are twice as likely as the general public to fall victim to scams, and four out of five military/veteran adults report being the target of scams directly related to their military service or benefits. 

Original cosponsors: Rep. Cohen (TN-09), Rep. Fallon (TX-04), Rep. Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Rep. Fleischmann (TN-03), Rep. Gaetz (FL-01), Rep. Manning (NC-06), Rep. Moulton (MA-06), Rep. Nickel (NC-13), Rep. Salazar (FL-27), Rep. Steube (FL-17)

Supporting organizations: AARP, American Gold Star Mothers, Blinded American Veterans Foundation, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars

Original source can be found here.