U.S. Senator Bob Menendez today announced his co-sponsorship of a new bill aimed at killing a newly passed provision in the 2015 federal budget that he feels opens Americans to a flood of scam phone calls from automated calls posing as the IRS.

“People must be protected from over-the-phone predators trying to steal your money,” said Sen. Menendez. “Not only does this budget provision open the flood gates to more nuisance phone calls interrupting dinner and family time, but it blurs the line between what is legit and what is a complete and utter fraud.”

Menendez co-sponsored the bill—called the Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone calls (HANGUP) Act—last week. According to the Senator and his co-sponsors, the new provision in section 301 of the 2015 budget undoes protections in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Debt Collection Protection Act (FDCPA). Previously, the IRS would not call to collect debts prior to sending a bill or receiving the called party’s consent. The new provision undoes that, allowing calls to be made by agencies and third parties before a bill has ever been sent or the initial permission has been granted.

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