116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 149 

AN ACT 

To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council. 

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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†S 149 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Senior Scams 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY GROUP. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Senior 

6 Scams Prevention Advisory Group (referred to in this Act 

7 as the ‘‘Advisory Group’’). 

8 (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Group shall be com9 posed of stakeholders such as the following individuals or 

10 the designees of those individuals: 

11 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Com12 mission. 

13 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

14 (3) The Attorney General. 

15 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

16 Financial Protection. 

17 (5) Representatives from each of the following 

18 sectors, including trade associations, to be selected 

19 by Federal Trade Commission: 

20 (A) Retail. 

21 (B) Gift cards. 

22 (C) Telecommunications. 

23 (D) Wire-transfer services. 

24 (E) Senior peer advocates. 
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1 (F) Consumer advocacy organizations with 

2 efforts focused on preventing seniors from be3 coming the victims of scams. 

4 (G) Financial services, including institu5 tions that engage in digital currency. 

6 (H) Prepaid cards. 

7 (6) A member of the Board of Governors of the 

8 Federal Reserve System. 

9 (7) A prudential regulator, as defined in section 

10 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

11 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

12 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En13 forcement Network. 

14 (9) Any other Federal, State, or local agency, 

15 industry representative, consumer advocate, or enti16 ty, as determined by the Federal Trade Commission. 

17 (c) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS.—A member 

18 of the Advisory Group shall serve without compensation 

19 in addition to any compensation received for the service 

20 of the member as an officer or employee of the United 

21 States, if applicable. 

22 (d) DUTIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Group shall— 

24 (A) collect information on the existence, 

25 use, and success of educational materials and 
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1 programs for retailers, financial services, and 

2 wire-transfer companies, which— 

3 (i) may be used as a guide to educate 

4 employees on how to identify and prevent 

5 scams that affect seniors; and 

6 (ii) include— 

7 (I) useful information for retail8 ers, financial services, and wire trans9 fer companies for the purpose de10 scribed in clause (i); 

11 (II) training for employees on 

12 ways to identify and prevent senior 

13 scams; 

14 (III) best practices for keeping 

15 employees up to date on current 

16 scams; 

17 (IV) the most effective signage 

18 and placement in retail locations to 

19 warn seniors about scammers’ use of 

20 gift cards, prepaid cards, and wire 

21 transfer services; 

22 (V) suggestions on effective col23 laborative community education cam24 paigns; 
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1 (VI) available technology to as2 sist in identifying possible scams at 

3 the point of sale; and 

4 (VII) other information that 

5 would be helpful to retailers, wire 

6 transfer companies, financial institu7 tions, and their employees as they 

8 work to prevent fraud affecting sen9 iors; and 

10 (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 

11 (A)— 

12 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 

13 deficiencies in those educational materials 

14 and programs for the categories listed in 

15 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 

16 reaching employees to protect older adults; 

17 and 

18 (ii) create model materials, best prac19 tices guidance, or recommendations to fill 

20 those inadequacies, omissions, or defi21 ciencies that may be used by industry and 

22 others to help protect older adults from 

23 scams. 

24 (2) ENCOURAGED USE.—The Chairman of the 

25 Federal Trade Commission shall— 
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1 (A) make the materials or guidance cre2 ated by the Federal Trade Commission de3 scribed in paragraph (1) publicly available; and 

4 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 

5 the materials created under this subsection to 

6 prevent scams affecting seniors by govern7 mental agencies and the private sector. 

8 (e) REPORTS.—Section 101(c)(2) of the Elder Abuse 

9 Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21711(c)(2)) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

14 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(E) for the Federal Trade Commission, in 

17 relevant years, information on— 

18 ‘‘(i) the newly created materials, guid19 ance, or recommendations of the Senior 

20 Scams Prevention Advisory Group estab21 lished under section 2 of the Stop Senior 

22 Scams Act, and any relevant views or con23 siderations made by members of the Advi24 sory Group that were not included in the 

25 Advisory Group’s model materials or con-
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1 sidered an official recommendation by the 

2 Advisory Group; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad4 visory Group’s findings about senior scams 

5 and industry educational materials and 

6 programs; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 

8 stakeholders can continue to work together 

9 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 

10 (f) TERMINATION.—This Act, and the amendments 

11 made by this Act, ceases to be effective on the date that 

12 is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate June 10, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 149 

AN ACT 

To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory 

Council.