A resolution designating March 9, 2023, as "National Slam the Scam Day" to raise awareness about pervasive government imposter scams, and to promote education to prevent government imposter scams.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 101 Designating March 9, 2023, as ‘‘National Slam the Scam Day’’ to raise awareness about pervasive government imposter scams, and to promote education to prevent government imposter scams. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2023 Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. KELLY, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. BRAUN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Designating March 9, 2023, as ‘‘National Slam the Scam Day’’ to raise awareness about pervasive government im- poster scams, and to promote education to prevent gov- ernment imposter scams. Whereas hundreds of thousands of individuals in the United States are targeted by government imposter scams each year, including Social Security-related and Internal Rev- enue Service-related government imposter scams; Whereas government imposter scams involve scammers con- tacting individuals in the United States and imper- sonating employees of government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, to demand payment or personal information, which defrauds individuals of the VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR101.ATS SR101 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •SRES 101 ATS United States and erodes trust in the government agen- cies that the scammers impersonate; Whereas, since 2013, the fraud hotline of the Special Com- mittee on Aging of the Senate has received more than 10,000 complaints from individuals in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, of which 1⁄3 were reporting possible government im- poster scams; Whereas there were more than 191,000 government imposter scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022; Whereas the Federal Trade Commission has estimated that victims lost almost $509,000,000 in government imposter scams in 2022; Whereas, according to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2022, older adults reported larger median individual losses as a result of government imposter scams than younger adults; Whereas, according to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2022, individuals in the United States reported losing more than $104,500,000 to Social Security-related im- poster scams; Whereas, in 2022, Social Security-related imposter scams represented the largest category of complaints received by the fraud hotline of the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate; and Whereas increased awareness of, and education about, gov- ernment imposter scams help to thwart government im- poster scammers: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR101.ATS SR101 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •SRES 101 ATS (1) designates March 9, 2023, as ‘‘National 1 Slam the Scam Day’’; 2 (2) recognizes National Slam the Scam Day as 3 an opportunity to raise awareness about scams that 4 involve individuals impersonating government em- 5 ployees by any means, including by mail, telephone, 6 electronic mail, or internet websites (referred to in 7 this resolving clause as ‘‘government imposter 8 scams’’); 9 (3) recognizes that law enforcement agencies, 10 consumer protection groups, telephone companies, 11 area agencies on aging, and financial institutions all 12 play vital roles in— 13 (A) preventing government imposter scams 14 from targeting the people of the United States; 15 and 16 (B) educating the people of the United 17 States about government imposter scams; 18 (4) encourages— 19 (A) the implementation of policies to pre- 20 vent government imposter scams; and 21 (B) the improvement of measures to pro- 22 tect the people of the United States from gov- 23 ernment imposter scams; 24 (5) encourages members of the public to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR101.ATS SR101 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •SRES 101 ATS (A) ignore solicitations from individuals 1 falsely claiming to represent government agen- 2 cies; 3 (B) share information about government 4 imposter scams with family and friends; and 5 (C) report government imposter scams 6 to— 7 (i) the Office of the Inspector General 8 of the Social Security Administration; 9 (ii) the Treasury Inspector General 10 for Tax Administration; or 11 (iii) the Federal Trade Commission; 12 and 13 (6) honors the commitment and dedication of 14 the individuals and organizations that work tirelessly 15 to fight against government imposter scams. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR101.ATS SR101 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB