IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 81 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 4, 2017 

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

AN ACT 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Seniors Fraud Preven3 tion Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD TAR5 GETING SENIORS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY OFFICE.—The 

7 Federal Trade Commission shall establish an office within 

8 the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the purpose of ad9 vising the Commission on the prevention of fraud tar10 geting seniors and to assist the Commission with the fol11 lowing: 

12 (1) OVERSIGHT.—The advisory office shall 

13 monitor the market for mail, television, Internet, 

14 telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call 

15 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘robocall’’) fraud tar16 geting seniors and shall coordinate with other rel17 evant agencies regarding the requirements of this 

18 section. 

19 (2) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The Commission 

20 through the advisory office shall, in consultation 

21 with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 

22 and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the 

23 Chief Postal Inspector for the United States Postal 

24 Inspection Service, and other relevant agencies— 

25 (A) disseminate to seniors and families and 

26 caregivers of seniors general information on 

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1 mail, television, Internet, telemarketing, and 

2 robocall fraud targeting seniors, including de3 scriptions of the most common fraud schemes; 

4 (B) disseminate to seniors and families 

5 and caregivers of seniors information on report6 ing complaints of fraud targeting seniors either 

7 to the national toll-free telephone number estab8 lished by the Commission for reporting such 

9 complaints, or to the Consumer Sentinel Net10 work, operated by the Commission, where such 

11 complaints will become immediately available to 

12 appropriate law enforcement agencies, including 

13 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the at14 torneys general of the States; 

15 (C) in response to a specific request about 

16 a particular entity or individual, provide pub17 lically available information of enforcement ac18 tion taken by the Commission for mail, tele19 vision, Internet, telemarketing, and robocall 

20 fraud against such entity; and 

21 (D) maintain a website to serve as a re22 source for information for seniors and families 

23 and caregivers of seniors regarding mail, tele24 vision, Internet, telemarketing, robocall, and 

25 other identified fraud targeting seniors. 

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1 (3) COMPLAINTS.—The Commission through 

2 the advisory office shall, in consultation with the At3 torney General, establish procedures to— 

4 (A) log and acknowledge the receipt of 

5 complaints by individuals who believe they have 

6 been a victim of mail, television, Internet, tele7 marketing, and robocall fraud in the Consumer 

8 Sentinel Network, and shall make those com9 plaints immediately available to Federal, State, 

10 and local law enforcement authorities; and 

11 (B) provide to individuals described in sub12 paragraph (A), and to any other persons, spe13 cific and general information on mail, television, 

14 Internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud, in15 cluding descriptions of the most common 

16 schemes using such methods of communication. 

17 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—The Commission shall com18 mence carrying out the requirements of this section not 

19 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act. 

Passed the Senate August 2, 2017. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 

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