Buckeye Reporter

U.S. Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio) has joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in supporting the Recovery of Stolen Checks Act, which aims to address the problem of IRS refund paper checks being stolen from the mail and sold online. The legislation would allow taxpayers to direct-deposit their refunds, a move intended to reduce repeated fraud and speed up the process for families receiving their refunds.

“Criminals are stealing IRS refund paper checks from the mail and selling them online. The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act provides a fix to an outdated policy by allowing taxpayers to direct-deposit their refund to reduce the risk of repeated fraud, which would lead to a faster and more secure process for families to receive their refunds. I’m supporting this commonsense bill to protect Ohioans from fraud and ensure their money gets to where it belongs,” said Husted.

The bill is part of Husted’s ongoing efforts against financial scams. He has also introduced the Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act, which seeks to combat data and identity theft or fraud linked with artificial intelligence technologies known as “deep fake” scams. This proposal would create a task force focused on AI in financial services.

The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act has received support from Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). The House version was sponsored by Representatives David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and has passed in that chamber.

A full text of the bill is available online.