Stop Senior Scams Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 337 To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Senior Scams 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY GROUP. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Senior 7 Scams Prevention Advisory Group (referred to in this Act 8 as the ‘‘Advisory Group’’). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 337 IS (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Group shall be com- 1 posed of stakeholders such as the following individuals or 2 the designees of those individuals: 3 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Com- 4 mission. 5 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 6 (3) The Attorney General. 7 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 8 Financial Protection. 9 (5) Representatives from each of the following 10 sectors, including trade associations, to be selected 11 by Federal Trade Commission: 12 (A) Retail. 13 (B) Gift cards. 14 (C) Telecommunications. 15 (D) Wire-transfer services. 16 (E) Senior peer advocates. 17 (F) Consumer advocacy organizations with 18 efforts focused on preventing seniors from be- 19 coming the victims of scams. 20 (G) Financial services, including institu- 21 tions that engage in digital currency. 22 (H) Prepaid cards. 23 (6) A member of the Board of Governors of the 24 Federal Reserve System. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 337 IS (7) A prudential regulator, as defined in section 1 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 3 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En- 4 forcement Network. 5 (9) Any other Federal, State, or local agency, 6 industry representative, consumer advocate, or enti- 7 ty, as determined by the Federal Trade Commission. 8 (c) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS.—A member 9 of the Advisory Group shall serve without compensation 10 in addition to any compensation received for the service 11 of the member as an officer or employee of the United 12 States, if applicable. 13 (d) DUTIES.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Group shall— 15 (A) collect information on the existence, 16 use, and success of educational materials and 17 programs for retailers, financial services, and 18 wire-transfer companies, which— 19 (i) may be used as a guide to educate 20 employees on how to identify and prevent 21 scams that affect seniors; and 22 (ii) include— 23 (I) useful information for retail- 24 ers, financial services, and wire trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 337 IS fer companies for the purpose de- 1 scribed in clause (i); 2 (II) training for employees on 3 ways to identify and prevent senior 4 scams; 5 (III) best practices for keeping 6 employees up to date on current 7 scams; 8 (IV) the most effective signage 9 and placement in retail locations to 10 warn seniors about scammers’ use of 11 gift cards, prepaid cards, and wire 12 transfer services; 13 (V) suggestions on effective col- 14 laborative community education cam- 15 paigns; 16 (VI) available technology to as- 17 sist in identifying possible scams at 18 the point of sale; and 19 (VII) other information that 20 would be helpful to retailers, wire 21 transfer companies, financial institu- 22 tions, and their employees as they 23 work to prevent fraud affecting sen- 24 iors; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 337 IS (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 1 (A)— 2 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 3 deficiencies in those educational materials 4 and programs for the categories listed in 5 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 6 reaching employees to protect older adults; 7 and 8 (ii) create model materials, best prac- 9 tices guidance, or recommendations to fill 10 those inadequacies, omissions, or defi- 11 ciencies that may be used by industry and 12 others to help protect older adults from 13 scams. 14 (2) ENCOURAGED USE.—The Chairman of the 15 Federal Trade Commission shall— 16 (A) make the materials or guidance cre- 17 ated by the Federal Trade Commission de- 18 scribed in paragraph (1) publicly available; and 19 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 20 the materials created under this subsection to 21 prevent scams affecting seniors by govern- 22 mental agencies and the private sector. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 337 IS (e) REPORTS.—Section 101(c)(2) of the Elder Abuse 1 Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21711(c)(2)) 2 is amended— 3 (1) in subparagraph (A)(iv), by striking the pe- 4 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 5 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 6 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(C) for the Federal Trade Commission, in 9 relevant years, information on— 10 ‘‘(i) the newly created materials, guid- 11 ance, or recommendations of the Senior 12 Scams Prevention Advisory Group estab- 13 lished under section 2 of the Stop Senior 14 Scams Act, and any relevant views or con- 15 siderations made by members of the Advi- 16 sory Group that were not included in the 17 Advisory Group’s model materials or con- 18 sidered an official recommendation by the 19 Advisory Group; 20 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad- 21 visory Group’s findings about senior scams 22 and industry educational materials and 23 programs; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 337 IS ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 1 stakeholders can continue to work together 2 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 3 (f) TERMINATION.—This Act, and the amendments 4 made by this Act, ceases to be effective on the date that 5 is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Feb 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS