[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2544 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2544
To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and
grantees that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds
for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general
financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies
may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use
of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30, 2025
Mrs. Britt (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Scott of Florida)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and
grantees that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds
for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general
financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies
may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use
of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, 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 ``Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees
from Deception Act'' or the ``GUARD Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Elder financial fraud.--The term ``elder financial
fraud'' means the illegal or improper use of the money,
property, or other resources of an elderly individual or adult
with a disability for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or
gain.
(2) Eligible federal grant funds.--The term ``eligible
Federal grant funds'' means funds received under any of the
following:
(A) Title IV of the Prioritizing Resources and
Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (34
U.S.C. 30103 et seq.) (commonly known as the
``Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet
Crime Prevention National Training and Technical
Assistance Program''), including relating to the use of
technology to solve crimes and to facilitate
prosecutions (commonly known as the ``Internet of
Things (IoT) National Training and Technical Assistance
Program'').
(B) Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, part 23
(commonly known as ``Justice Information Sharing
Training and Technical Assistance Program'').
(C) Section 1401 of the Violence Against Women Act
Reauthorization Act of 2022 (34 U.S.C. 30107) to a
local law enforcement agency for enforcement of
cybercrimes against individuals.
(D) Section 1701 title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381),
relating to developing and acquiring effective
equipment, technologies, and interoperable
communications that assist in responding to and
preventing crime (commonly known as the ``COPS
Technology and Equipment Program'').
(3) General financial fraud.--The term ``general financial
fraud'' means, in order to obtain money or other things of
value--
(A) intentional misrepresentation of information or
identity to deceive an individual;
(B) unlawful use of a credit card, debit card, or
automated teller machine; or
(C) use of electronic means to transmit deceptive
information.
(4) Pig butchering.--The term ``pig butchering'' means a
confidence and investment fraud in which the victim is
gradually lured into making increasing monetary contributions,
generally in the form of cryptocurrency, to a seemingly sound
investment before the scammer disappears with the contributed
monies.
(5) Scam.--The term ``scam'' means a financial crime
undertaken through the use of social engineering that uses
deceptive inducement to acquire--
(A) authorized access to funds; or
(B) personal or sensitive information that can
facilitate the theft of financial assets.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the
United States.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL GRANTS USED FOR INVESTIGATING ELDER FINANCIAL FRAUD,
PIG BUTCHERING, AND GENERAL FINANCIAL FRAUD.
(a) In General.--State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies
and grantees that receive eligible Federal grant funds may use such
funds for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and
general financial fraud, including by--
(1) hiring and retaining analysts, agents, experts, and
other personnel;
(2) providing training specific to complex financial
investigations, including training on--
(A) coordination and collaboration between State,
local, Tribal, and Federal law enforcement agencies;
(B) assisting victims of financial fraud and
exploitation;
(C) the use of blockchain intelligence tools and
related capabilities relating to emerging technologies
identified in the February 2024 ``Critical and Emerging
Technology List Update'' of the Fast Track Action
Subcommittee on Critical and Emerging Technologies of
the National Science and Technology Council (the
``Critical and Emerging Technology List''); and
(D) unique aspects of fraud investigations,
including transnational financial investigations and
emerging technologies identified in the Critical and
Emerging Technology List;
(3) obtaining software and technical tools to conduct
financial fraud and exploitation investigations;
(4) encouraging improved data collection and reporting;
(5) supporting training and tabletop exercises to enhance
coordination and communication between financial institutions
and State, local, Tribal, and Federal law enforcement agencies
for the purpose of stopping fraud and scams; and
(6) designating a financial sector liaison to serve as a
point of contact for financial institutions to share and
exchange with State, local, Tribal, and Federal law enforcement
agencies information relevant to the investigation of fraud and
scams.
(b) Report to Grant Provider.--Each law enforcement agency and
grantee that makes use of eligible Federal grant funds for a purpose
specified under subsection (a) shall, not later than 1 year after
making such use of the funds, submit to the Federal agency that
provided the eligible Federal grant funds, a report containing--
(1) an explanation of the amount of funds so used, and the
specific purpose for which the funds were used;
(2) statistics with respect to elder financial fraud, pig
butchering, and general financial fraud in the jurisdiction of
the law enforcement agency, along with an analysis of how the
use of the funds for a purpose specified under subsection (a)
affected such statistics; and
(3) an assessment of the ability of the law enforcement
agency to deter elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and
general financial fraud.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON GENERAL FINANCIAL FRAUD, PIG BUTCHERING, AND ELDER
FINANCIAL FRAUD.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network in consultation with the Attorney General, the
Secretary of Homeland Security, and the appropriate Federal banking
agencies and Federal functional regulators shall, jointly, submit to
Congress a report on efforts and recommendations related to general
financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial fraud, and scams.
SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE STATE OF SCAMS IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, in consultation with the Attorney
General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the appropriate
Federal banking agencies and Federal functional regulators, shall
submit a report to Congress on the state of scams in the United States
that--
(1) estimates--
(A) the number of financial fraud, pig butchering,
elder financial fraud, and scams committed against
American consumers each year, including--
(i) attempted scams, including through
social media, online dating services, email,
impersonation of financial institutions and
nonbank financial institutions; and
(ii) successful scams, including through
social media, online dating services, email,
impersonation of financial institutions and
nonbank financial institutions;
(B) the number of consumers each year that lose
money to 1 or more scams;
(C) the dollar amount of consumer losses to scams
each year;
(D) the percentage of scams each year that can be
attributed to--
(i) overseas actors; and
(ii) organized crime;
(E) the number of attempted scams each year that
involve the impersonation of phone numbers associated
with financial institutions and nonbank financial
institutions; and
(F) an estimate of the number of synthetic
identities impersonating American consumers each year;
(2) provides an overview of the Federal civil and criminal
enforcement actions brought against the recipients of the
proceeds of financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial
fraud, and scams during the period covered by the report that
includes--
(A) the number of such enforcement actions;
(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of such
enforcement actions;
(C) an identification of the types of claims
brought against the recipients of the proceeds of
financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial fraud,
and scams;
(D) an identification of the types of penalties
imposed through such enforcement actions;
(E) an identification of the types of relief
obtained through such enforcement actions; and
(F) the number of such enforcement actions that are
connected to a Suspicious Activity Report; and
(3) identifies amounts made available and amounts expended
to address financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial
fraud, and scams during the period covered by the report by--
(A) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
(B) the Department of Justice;
(C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(D) the Federal Communications Commission;
(E) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
Board;
(F) the Federal Trade Commission;
(G) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network;
(H) the Securities and Exchange Commission; and
(I) the Social Security Administration.
(b) Solicitation of Public Comment.--In carrying out the report
required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
solicit comments from consumers, social media companies, email
providers, telecommunications companies, financial institutions, and
nonbank financial institutions.
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Each Federal agency that provides eligible Federal grant funds that
are used for a purpose specified under section 3(a) shall issue an
annual report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
of the Senate, the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives containing
the information received from law enforcement agencies under section
3(b).
SEC. 7. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ASSISTING STATE, LOCAL, AND
TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FUSION CENTERS.
Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and
Tribal law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in the use of
tracing tools for blockchain and related technology tools.
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