[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2116 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2116
To prevent mail, telemarketing, and internet fraud targeting seniors in
the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of
the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and internet fraud have
on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, their families, and their
caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 17, 2021
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent mail, telemarketing, and internet fraud targeting seniors in
the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of
the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and internet fraud have
on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, their families, and their
caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Senior Financial Empowerment Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The proportion of the population of the United States
that is 60 years of age or older will drastically increase in
the next 30 years as more than 76,000,000 baby boomers approach
retirement and old age.
(2) Each year, anywhere between 500,000 and 5,000,000
seniors in the United States are abused, neglected, or
exploited.
(3) Senior abuse, neglect, and exploitation have no
boundaries and cross all racial, social class, gender, and
geographic lines.
(4) Millions of individuals in the United States are
victims of financial exploitation, including mail,
telemarketing, and internet fraud, each year, and many of the
individuals who fall prey to these crimes are seniors.
(5) It is difficult to estimate the prevalence of fraud
targeting seniors because cases are severely underreported and
national statistics on senior fraud do not exist.
(6) The Federal Bureau of Investigation notes that a senior
may be less likely to report fraud because the senior--
(A) does not know to whom to report the fraud;
(B) is ashamed to have been a victim of fraud;
(C) does not know that the senior has been a victim
of fraud; or
(D) in some cases, is concerned that relatives may
come to the conclusion that the senior no longer has
the mental capacity to take care of the financial
affairs of the senior.
(7) According to a 2011 report by the MetLife Mature Market
Institute, the annual financial loss by victims of senior
financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2,900,000,000.
(8) As victims of senior financial abuse, many seniors have
been robbed of their hard-earned life savings, and even their
homes, and can suffer severe emotional and health-related
consequences.
(9) Perpetrators of fraud targeting seniors often operate
outside the United States, reaching their victims through the
mail, telephone lines, and the internet.
(10) The Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act
(Public Law 106-168; 113 Stat. 1806) increased the power of the
United States Postal Service to protect consumers against
persons who use deceptive mailings, such as those featuring
games of chance, sweepstakes, skill contests, and facsimile
checks.
(11) During fiscal year 2007, analysts prepared more than
27,000 letters and informative postcards in response to mail
fraud complaints. During that same fiscal year, postal
inspectors investigated 2,909 mail fraud cases in the United
States and arrested 1,236 mail fraud suspects, of whom 1,118
were convicted. Postal inspectors also reported 162
telemarketing fraud investigations with 83 arrests and 61
convictions resulting from the investigations.
(12) In 2000, the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate
reported that, each year, consumers lose approximately
$40,000,000,000 to telemarketing fraud and estimated that
approximately 10 percent of the 14,000 telemarketing firms in
the United States were fraudulent.
(13) Some researchers estimate that only 1 in 10,000 fraud
victims reports the crime to the authorities.
(14) A 2003 report by AARP, Inc., found that the crime of
telemarketing fraud is grossly underreported among senior
victims, but that individuals who are properly counseled by
trained peer volunteers are less likely to fall victim to
fraudulent practices.
(15) The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that the
threat of fraud to seniors is growing and changing. Many
younger baby boomers have considerable computer skills and
criminals are modifying their targeting techniques by using not
only traditional telephone calls and mass mailings, but also
online scams like phishing and e-mail spamming.
(16) The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a partnership
between the National White Collar Crime Center and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation that serves as a vehicle to receive,
develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding cybercrime.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center processed more than 219,553
complaints of internet crime in 2007 and, from these
submissions, the center referred 90,008 complaints of internet
crime, representing a total dollar loss of $239,090,000, to
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the
United States for further consideration.
(17) Consumer awareness is the best protection from fraud.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Senior citizen.--The term ``senior citizen'' means an
individual who is not younger than 65 years of age.
SEC. 4. INFORMATION AND CONSUMER EDUCATION ON MAIL, TELEMARKETING, AND
INTERNET FRAUD TARGETING SENIOR CITIZENS.
(a) Centralized Service.--
(1) Dissemination of information.--The Commission, after
consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the Chief Postal
Inspector for the United States Postal Inspection Service, and
the Internet Crime Complaint Center, shall--
(A) disseminate to senior citizens and the families
and caregivers of the senior citizens information--
(i) regarding mail, telemarketing, and
internet fraud that targets senior citizens,
including descriptions of the most common fraud
schemes; and
(ii) which shall be--
(I) disseminated in a way that is
easily accessible and user-friendly to
senior citizens; and
(II) proactive so as to teach
senior citizens about scam and fraud
prevention through safe and smart
financial practices; and
(B) with respect to the information described in
subparagraph (A)(ii)(II)--
(i) update the information regularly to
keep pace with the changing nature of criminal
activity; and
(ii) include--
(I) instructions on how to refer a
complaint to the appropriate law
enforcement agency; and
(II) a national toll-free telephone
number, to be established by the
Commission, which shall--
(aa) have a live
individual, rather than an
automated service, available to
answer calls from senior
citizens who are calling--
(AA) to seek advice
on where and how to
report instances of
fraud; or
(BB) to ask
questions about issues
relating to scams or
fraud of senior
citizens; and
(bb) be similar to the
Fraud Hotline established by
the Special Committee on Aging
of the Senate.
(2) Sharing of information.--The Commission shall--
(A) maintain an internet website that serves as a
source of information for senior citizens and the
families and caregivers of senior citizens regarding
the types of fraud described in paragraph (1)(A)(i);
(B) work with State law enforcement agencies to
create a national database that tracks instances of
fraud committed against senior citizens; and
(C) in response to a specific request about a
particular person, provide publically available
information on any record of a civil or criminal law
enforcement action taken against the person for fraud
that targeted senior citizens.
(b) Implementation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish and implement
procedures to carry out the requirements of this section.
SEC. 5. EDUCATION TO CERTAIN ENTITIES REGARDING FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
OF SENIOR CITIZENS.
(a) In General.--The Commission shall, in consultation with the
appropriate Federal financial institutions (as defined in section
8(e)(7)(D) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C.
1818(e)(7)(D))), regulatory agencies, State agencies, and local
agencies, convene and provide education to the entities described in
subsection (b) regarding the legal obligations of those entities and
industry best practices for those entities with respect to financial
exploitation and neglect of senior citizens.
(b) Covered Entities.--An entity described in this subsection is--
(1) a depository institution (as defined in section 3(c) of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)));
(2) a credit office;
(3) a remittance transfer provider (as defined in section
920(g) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o-
1(g)));
(4) a person who distributes general-use prepaid cards (as
defined in section 915(a)(2) of the Electronic Fund Transfer
Act (15 U.S.C. 1693l-1(a)(2))); and
(5) any individual who--
(A) is employed by a financial institution;
(B) has access to the financial records of senior
citizens; and
(C) may be able to identify instances of elder
financial abuse because of discrepancies in those
financial records.
(c) Required Training.--A State agency may not receive Federal
funds under this Act unless the agency ensures that the entities
described in subsection (b) in that State receive appropriate training
that improves--
(1) the ability of the entities to recognize evidence of
financial exploitation and neglect of senior citizens; and
(2) the understanding of the entities of the reporting
requirements in that State with respect to financial
exploitation and neglect of senior citizens.
(d) Implementation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish and implement
procedures to carry out the requirements of this section.
SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM TO PREVENT MAIL, TELEMARKETING, AND INTERNET
FRAUD AND FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON SENIOR CITIZENS'
INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO SCAMS.
(a) Grant Program.--
(1) Authorization.--The Attorney General may award grants,
on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out fraud
prevention activities designed to protect senior citizens.
(2) Eligible entities.--For purposes of the grant program,
an eligible entity is any State attorney general, State or
local law enforcement agency, senior center, or other State or
local nonprofit organization that provides assistance to senior
citizens.
(3) Priority.--In awarding grants under this subsection,
the Attorney General shall give priority to an eligible entity
that has established a public-private partnership with a
computer or software company that is focused on developing
tools to enhance internet scam prevention.
(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out this
subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through
2026.
(b) Research.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the National Institutes of
Health shall conduct scientific research related to the
increased vulnerability of senior citizens to scams and fraud
due to age-related health and neurological conditions.
(2) Availability of funds.--No additional amounts are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection.
Amounts to carry out this subsection shall be derived from
amounts not specifically appropriated to carry out this
subsection.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NATIONAL SENIOR FRAUD AWARENESS WEEK.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) there is a need to increase awareness of fraud
targeting senior citizens;
(2) a week in March of each year should be designated as
``National Senior Fraud Awareness Week'' to coincide with the
end of winter, which--
(A) is commonly a period of increased isolation;
and
(B) precedes tax season;
(3) the people of the United States should observe National
Senior Fraud Awareness Week with relevant educational
activities; and
(4) the President should issue a proclamation supporting
increased awareness of senior fraud.
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