Stop Senior Scams Act

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 149 AN ACT 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 2 † S 149 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Senior Scams 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY GROUP. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Senior 5 Scams Prevention Advisory Group (referred to in this Act 6 as the ‘‘Advisory Group’’). 7 (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Group shall be com- 8 posed of stakeholders such as the following individuals or 9 the designees of those individuals: 10 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Com- 11 mission. 12 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 13 (3) The Attorney General. 14 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 15 Financial Protection. 16 (5) Representatives from each of the following 17 sectors, including trade associations, to be selected 18 by Federal Trade Commission: 19 (A) Retail. 20 (B) Gift cards. 21 (C) Telecommunications. 22 (D) Wire-transfer services. 23 (E) Senior peer advocates. 24 3 † S 149 ES (F) Consumer advocacy organizations with 1 efforts focused on preventing seniors from be- 2 coming the victims of scams. 3 (G) Financial services, including institu- 4 tions that engage in digital currency. 5 (H) Prepaid cards. 6 (6) A member of the Board of Governors of the 7 Federal Reserve System. 8 (7) A prudential regulator, as defined in section 9 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 10 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 11 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En- 12 forcement Network. 13 (9) Any other Federal, State, or local agency, 14 industry representative, consumer advocate, or enti- 15 ty, as determined by the Federal Trade Commission. 16 (c) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS.—A member 17 of the Advisory Group shall serve without compensation 18 in addition to any compensation received for the service 19 of the member as an officer or employee of the United 20 States, if applicable. 21 (d) DUTIES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Group shall— 23 (A) collect information on the existence, 24 use, and success of educational materials and 25 4 † S 149 ES programs for retailers, financial services, and 1 wire-transfer companies, which— 2 (i) may be used as a guide to educate 3 employees on how to identify and prevent 4 scams that affect seniors; and 5 (ii) include— 6 (I) useful information for retail- 7 ers, financial services, and wire trans- 8 fer companies for the purpose de- 9 scribed in clause (i); 10 (II) training for employees on 11 ways to identify and prevent senior 12 scams; 13 (III) best practices for keeping 14 employees up to date on current 15 scams; 16 (IV) the most effective signage 17 and placement in retail locations to 18 warn seniors about scammers’ use of 19 gift cards, prepaid cards, and wire 20 transfer services; 21 (V) suggestions on effective col- 22 laborative community education cam- 23 paigns; 24 5 † S 149 ES (VI) available technology to as- 1 sist in identifying possible scams at 2 the point of sale; and 3 (VII) other information that 4 would be helpful to retailers, wire 5 transfer companies, financial institu- 6 tions, and their employees as they 7 work to prevent fraud affecting sen- 8 iors; and 9 (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 10 (A)— 11 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 12 deficiencies in those educational materials 13 and programs for the categories listed in 14 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 15 reaching employees to protect older adults; 16 and 17 (ii) create model materials, best prac- 18 tices guidance, or recommendations to fill 19 those inadequacies, omissions, or defi- 20 ciencies that may be used by industry and 21 others to help protect older adults from 22 scams. 23 (2) ENCOURAGED USE.—The Chairman of the 24 Federal Trade Commission shall— 25 6 † S 149 ES (A) make the materials or guidance cre- 1 ated by the Federal Trade Commission de- 2 scribed in paragraph (1) publicly available; and 3 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 4 the materials created under this subsection to 5 prevent scams affecting seniors by govern- 6 mental agencies and the private sector. 7 (e) REPORTS.—Section 101(c)(2) of the Elder Abuse 8 Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21711(c)(2)) 9 is amended— 10 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 11 the end; 12 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 13 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(E) for the Federal Trade Commission, in 16 relevant years, information on— 17 ‘‘(i) the newly created materials, guid- 18 ance, or recommendations of the Senior 19 Scams Prevention Advisory Group estab- 20 lished under section 2 of the Stop Senior 21 Scams Act, and any relevant views or con- 22 siderations made by members of the Advi- 23 sory Group that were not included in the 24 Advisory Group’s model materials or con- 25 7 † S 149 ES sidered an official recommendation by the 1 Advisory Group; 2 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad- 3 visory Group’s findings about senior scams 4 and industry educational materials and 5 programs; and 6 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 7 stakeholders can continue to work together 8 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 9 (f) TERMINATION.—This Act, and the amendments 10 made by this Act, ceases to be effective on the date that 11 is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 12 Passed the Senate June 10, 2020. Attest: Secretary. 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 149 AN ACT To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council.