I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 444 

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 

JANUARY 11, 2017 

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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Seniors Fraud Preven5 tion Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD TAR7 GETING SENIORS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY OFFICE.—The 

9 Federal Trade Commission shall establish an office within 


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1 the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the purpose of ad2 vising the Commission on the prevention of fraud tar3 geting seniors and to assist the Commission with the fol4 lowing: 

5 (1) OVERSIGHT.—The advisory office shall 

6 monitor the market for mail, television, Internet, 

7 telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call 

8 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘robocall’’) fraud tar9 geting seniors and shall coordinate with other rel10 evant agencies regarding the requirements of this 

11 section. 

12 (2) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The Commission 

13 through the advisory office shall, in consultation 

14 with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 

15 and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the 

16 Chief Postal Inspector for the United States Postal 

17 Inspection Service, and other relevant agencies— 

18 (A) disseminate to seniors and families and 

19 caregivers of seniors general information on 

20 mail, television, Internet, telemarketing, and 

21 robocall fraud targeting seniors, including de22 scriptions of the most common fraud schemes; 

23 (B) disseminate to seniors and families 

24 and caregivers of seniors information on report25 ing complaints of fraud targeting seniors either 


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1 to the national toll-free telephone number estab2 lished by the Commission for reporting such 

3 complaints, or to the Consumer Sentinel Net4 work, operated by the Commission, where such 

5 complaints will become immediately available to 

6 appropriate law enforcement agencies, including 

7 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the at8 torneys general of the States; 

9 (C) in response to a specific request about 

10 a particular entity or individual, provide pub11 lically available information of enforcement ac12 tion taken by the Commission for mail, tele13 vision, Internet, telemarketing, and robocall 

14 fraud against such entity; and 

15 (D) maintain a Web site to serve as a re16 source for information for seniors and families 

17 and caregivers of seniors regarding mail, tele18 vision, Internet, telemarketing, robocall, and 

19 other identified fraud targeting seniors. 

20 (3) COMPLAINTS.—The Commission through 

21 the advisory office shall, in consultation with the At22 torney General, establish procedures to— 

23 (A) log and acknowledge the receipt of 

24 complaints by individuals who believe they have 

25 been a victim of mail, television, Internet, teleVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:48 Jan 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H444.IH H444

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1 marketing, and robocall fraud in the Consumer 

2 Sentinel Network, and shall make those com3 plaints immediately available to Federal, State, 

4 and local law enforcement authorities; and 

5 (B) provide to individuals described in sub6 paragraph (A), and to any other persons, spe7 cific and general information on mail, television, 

8 Internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud, in9 cluding descriptions of the most common 

10 schemes using such methods of communication. 

11 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—The Commission shall com12 mence carrying out the requirements of this section not 

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

14 Act. 

Æ 


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