Idaho lawmakers are considering new legislation to protect residents from financial scams. House Bill 182, also known as the “Report and Hold” bill, aims to give financial institutions the authority to temporarily pause suspicious transactions. This would allow time for investigation and involvement from law enforcement.
Representative Jeff Ehlers, a Republican from District 21, is sponsoring the bill. He explained that the legislation is designed to protect adults 65 and older, as well as those 18 and older with mental or physical impairments, from financial exploitation.
Ehlers gave an example of how the bill would work: “Take a hypothetical senior citizen that was contacted by a fraudster that said, ‘hey you need to wire $10,000, and what the proposed legislation does is allows the institution to hold that for a little bit and say, ‘hey this looks suspicious,”.
Under the proposed law, financial institutions could halt questionable transactions for up to 15 days while they investigate. Lupe Wissel, the State Director of AARP Idaho, emphasized the importance of quick action. “The quicker the authorities get involved, the better chance there is to recoup that money, but once it’s gone its gone,” Wissel stated. Ehlers added that recovering funds and prosecuting criminals becomes difficult, especially in cases involving foreign entities.
AARP reports that Idaho had over 14,000 reported scam cases in 2023. These scams resulted in Idahoans losing more than $40 million. Currently, Idaho is one of only eight states without “Report and Hold” legislation, making its residents more vulnerable to financial crimes. Wissel stated, “This is just a way to protect their hard-earned money”.
Not everyone agrees on the need for the bill. Sheila Harmon, the Site Manager at the Jerome Senior Center, expressed concerns. “I don’t think I support it because we have scam prevention presentations here with the sheriff, the police department and our local banker,” Harmon said. “We help them as much as we can to learn about scams but giving someone else the ability to shut down their account temporarily– I think that’s government oversight”.
Ehlers countered this argument by stating that the bill is not about government overreach but about providing an additional layer of protection. He clarified that seniors would still have access to their accounts and be able to make transactions. The legislation would only allow financial institutions to intervene when there are strong suspicions of fraud. Ehlers also noted that similar legislation in other states has saved millions of dollars.
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