Protecting Consumers from Travel Fraud Act

II Calendar No. 216 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1890 To require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study on scams that target travelers during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study on scams that target travelers during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Protecting Consumers 4 from Travel Fraud Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1890.RS S1890 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1890 RS SEC. 2. FTC STUDY ON TRAVEL FRAUD. 1 (a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission (in this 2 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall conduct a 3 study, using the Commission’s authority under section 6 4 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46), re- 5 garding scams that target travelers during the COVID– 6 19 pandemic. 7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the date 8 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 9 Congress a report containing the results of the study con- 10 ducted under subsection (a), together with recommenda- 11 tions for such legislation and administrative action to pre- 12 vent and deter scams that target consumers, including on- 13 line travel booking scams, as the Commission determines 14 appropriate. 15 (c) CONSUMER PROTECTION INFORMATION.—Not 16 later than 30 days after the date of the submission of the 17 report under subsection (b), the Commission shall update 18 the website of the Commission to include information for 19 consumers on avoiding scams that target travelers, includ- 20 ing scams that target travelers during the COVID–pan- 21 demic identified in the study conducted under subsection 22 (a). 23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 24 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Consumers 25 from Travel Fraud Act’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1890.RS S1890 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1890 RS SEC. 2. FTC STUDY ON TRAVEL FRAUD. 1 (a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission (in this 2 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall conduct a 3 study describing scams that target travelers during the 4 COVID–19 pandemic. 5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 6 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 7 Congress a report containing the results of the study con- 8 ducted under subsection (a), together with such rec- 9 ommendations for legislation and administrative action to 10 prevent and deter scams that target travelers during the 11 COVID–19 pandemic. 12 (c) CONSUMER PROTECTION INFORMATION.—Not later 13 than 30 days after the date of the submission of the report 14 under subsection (b), the Commission shall update the 15 website of the Commission to include information for con- 16 sumers on avoiding scams that target travelers, including 17 scams that target travelers during the COVID–19 pandemic 18 identified in the study conducted under subsection (a). 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1890.RS S1890 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 216 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1890 A BILL To require the Federal Trade Commission to con- duct a study on scams that target travelers dur- ing the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other pur- poses. DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1890.RS S1890 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS