Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2301 To establish an advisory office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission to prevent fraud targeting seniors, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 12, 2019 Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish an advisory office within the Bureau of Con- sumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission to prevent fraud targeting seniors, 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 ‘‘Seniors Fraud Preven- 4 tion Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD TAR- 6 GETING SENIORS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY OFFICE.—The 8 Federal Trade Commission shall establish an office within 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2301.IH H2301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2301 IH the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the purpose of ad- 1 vising the Commission on the prevention of fraud tar- 2 geting seniors and to assist the Commission with the fol- 3 lowing: 4 (1) OVERSIGHT.—The advisory office shall 5 monitor the market for mail, television, internet, 6 telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call 7 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘robocall’’) fraud tar- 8 geting seniors and shall coordinate with other rel- 9 evant agencies regarding the requirements of this 10 section. 11 (2) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The Commission 12 through the advisory office shall, in consultation 13 with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 14 and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the 15 Chief Postal Inspector for the United States Postal 16 Inspection Service, and other relevant agencies— 17 (A) disseminate to seniors and families and 18 caregivers of seniors general information on 19 mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and 20 robocall fraud targeting seniors, including de- 21 scriptions of the most common fraud schemes; 22 (B) disseminate to seniors and families 23 and caregivers of seniors information on report- 24 ing complaints of fraud targeting seniors either 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2301.IH H2301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2301 IH to the national toll-free telephone number estab- 1 lished by the Commission for reporting such 2 complaints, or to the Consumer Sentinel Net- 3 work, operated by the Commission, where such 4 complaints will become immediately available to 5 appropriate law enforcement agencies, including 6 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the at- 7 torneys general of the States; 8 (C) in response to a specific request about 9 a particular entity or individual, provide pub- 10 lically available information of enforcement ac- 11 tion taken by the Commission for mail, tele- 12 vision, internet, telemarketing, and robocall 13 fraud against such entity; and 14 (D) maintain a website to serve as a re- 15 source for information for seniors and families 16 and caregivers of seniors regarding mail, tele- 17 vision, internet, telemarketing, robocall, and 18 other identified fraud targeting seniors. 19 (3) COMPLAINTS.—The Commission through 20 the advisory office shall, in consultation with the At- 21 torney General, establish procedures to— 22 (A) log and acknowledge the receipt of 23 complaints by individuals who believe they have 24 been a victim of mail, television, internet, tele- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2301.IH H2301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2301 IH marketing, and robocall fraud in the Consumer 1 Sentinel Network, and shall make those com- 2 plaints immediately available to Federal, State, 3 and local law enforcement authorities; and 4 (B) provide to individuals described in sub- 5 paragraph (A), and to any other persons, spe- 6 cific and general information on mail, television, 7 internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud, in- 8 cluding descriptions of the most common 9 schemes using such methods of communication. 10 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—The Commission shall com- 11 mence carrying out the requirements of this section not 12 later than one year after the date of enactment of this 13 Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2301.IH H2301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS