Menendez held a press conference in Newark Monday.
Menendez at Monday's press conference. (Courtesy Menendez's office)NEWARK -- A new law may increase the number of successful phone scams across the U.S. and in New Jersey, according to U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who held a press conference Monday in support of repealing the law.
According to Menendez (D-N.J.), the new provision, which allows federal agencies or third-party companies to call people to collect debt owed to or backed by the federal government, was "buried" in the federal budget agreement passed last month. The provision would apply to back taxes, student loans, and other debts, he said.
In a release about the provision, Menendez's office called it a "loophole" that could benefit scammers.
"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 said in a statement about the press conference Monday.
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"It leads to confusion and--worst of all--it unnecessarily increases the risk of falling victim to a scam."
Menendez joined with law enforcement officials from New Jersey Monday to advocate against the provision, which they say will make it easier for IRS scammers to hit up innocent victims for money they don't owe. Having the government be able to make legitimate debt collection calls - a practice that previously was not allowed - will make it difficult for people to determine which calls are legitimate, and which aren't, they argued.
"To prevent taxpayers from falling victim to these scams, we have been providing them with warnings (including) that the IRS will never call you on the phone and that all correspondences will be through the mail," Leonia Police Chief Thomas Rowe said in a release about the conference.
"This legislation will undoubtedly cause many more people to fall victim to the IRS phone scam as they will be unable to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys."
Menendez is one of 10 senators sponsoring the "Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone calls (HANGUP) Act," which would appeal the provision.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
