II 

Calendar No. 393 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 149 

[Report No. 116–182] 

To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2019 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

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

3 Scams Prevention Advisory Council (referred to in this 

4 Act as the ‘‘Advisory Council’’). 

5 (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Council shall be com6 posed of the following members or the designees of those 

7 members: 

8 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Com9 mission. 

10 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

11 (3) The Attorney General. 

12 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

13 Financial Protection. 

14 (5) Not more than 2 representatives from each 

15 of the following sectors, including trade associations, 

16 to be selected by the Chairman of the Federal Trade 

17 Commission: 

18 (A) Retail. 

19 (B) Gift card. 

20 (C) Telecommunications. 

21 (D) Wire-transfer services. 

22 (E) Senior peer advocates. 

23 (F) Consumer advocacy organization with 

24 efforts focused on preventing seniors from be25 coming the victims of scams. 


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1 (G) Financial services, including institu2 tions who engage in digital currency. 

3 (H) Prepaid cards. 

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

5 Federal Reserve System. 

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

7 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

8 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

9 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En10 forcement Network. 

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

12 industry representative, consumer advocate, or enti13 ty, as determined by the Chairman of the Federal 

14 Trade Commission. 

15 (c) DUTIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Council shall, 

17 while considering public comment— 

18 (A) collect information on the existence, 

19 use, and success of model educational materials 

20 and programs for retailers, financial services 

21 and wire-transfer companies, which— 

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

23 employees on how to identify and prevent 

24 scams that affect seniors; and 

25 (ii) include— 


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1 (I) useful information for retail2 ers, financial services, and wire trans3 fer companies for the purpose de4 scribed in clause (i); 

5 (II) training for employees on 

6 ways to identify and prevent senior 

7 scams; 

8 (III) the best methods for keep9 ing employees up to date on current 

10 scams; 

11 (IV) the most effective signage 

12 and best placement for signage in re13 tail locations to warn seniors about 

14 scammers’ use of gift cards, prepaid 

15 cards, and wire transfer services; 

16 (V) suggestions on effective col17 laborative community education cam18 paigns; 

19 (VI) available technology to as20 sist in identifying possible scams at 

21 the point of sale; and 

22 (VII) other information that 

23 would be helpful to retailers, wire 

24 transfer companies, financial institu25 tions, and their employees as they 


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1 work to prevent fraud affecting sen2 iors; and 

3 (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 

4 (A)— 

5 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 

6 deficiencies in those educational materials 

7 and programs for the categories listed in 

8 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 

9 reaching employees to protect older adults; 

10 and 

11 (ii) create model materials to fill those 

12 inadequacies, omissions, or deficiencies. 

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

14 Federal Trade Commission shall, after the public 

15 comment period is complete— 

16 (A) make the model educational materials 

17 and programs and information about execution 

18 of the programs described in paragraph (1) 

19 publicly available; and 

20 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 

21 the materials created under this subsection to 

22 prevent scams affecting seniors by govern23 mental agencies and the private sector. 


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1 (d) REPORTS.—Section 101(c) of the Elder Abuse 

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

3 amended— 

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

5 the end; 

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

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

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

9 ‘‘(E) for the Federal Trade Commission, 

10 include information on— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad12 visory Council’s newly created model mate13 rials, any recommendations of the Advisory 

14 Council, and any views or considerations 

15 made by members of the Advisory Council 

16 or by public comment that were not in17 cluded in the Advisory Council’s model ma18 terials or considered an official rec19 ommendation by the Advisory Council; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad21 visory Council’s findings about senior 

22 scams (including information about the 

23 ways scams affect seniors, including the 

24 negative effects on their well-being); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 

2 stakeholders can continue to work together 

3 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 

4 (e) TERMINATION.—This Act, and the amendments 

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

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

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Senior Scams Act’’. 

9 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY GROUP. 

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

11 Scams Prevention Advisory Group (referred to in this Act 

12 as the ‘‘Advisory Group’’). 

13 (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Group shall be com14 posed of stakeholders such as the following individuals or 

15 the designees of those individuals: 

16 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Commis17 sion. 

18 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

19 (3) The Attorney General. 

20 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi21 nancial Protection. 

22 (5) Representatives from each of the following 

23 sectors, including trade associations, to be selected by 

24 Federal Trade Commission: 

25 (A) Retail. 


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1 (B) Gift cards. 

2 (C) Telecommunications. 

3 (D) Wire-transfer services. 

4 (E) Senior peer advocates. 

5 (F) Consumer advocacy organizations with 

6 efforts focused on preventing seniors from becom7 ing the victims of scams. 

8 (G) Financial services, including institu9 tions that engage in digital currency. 

10 (H) Prepaid cards. 

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

12 Federal Reserve System. 

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

14 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

15 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

16 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En17 forcement Network. 

18 (9) Any other Federal, State, or local agency, in19 dustry representative, consumer advocate, or entity, 

20 as determined by the Federal Trade Commission. 

21 (c) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS.—A member of 

22 the Advisory Group shall serve without compensation in ad23 dition to any compensation received for the service of the 

24 member as an officer or employee of the United States, if 

25 applicable. 


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1 (d) DUTIES.— 

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

3 (A) collect information on the existence, use, 

4 and success of educational materials and pro5 grams for retailers, financial services, and wire6 transfer companies, which— 

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

8 employees on how to identify and prevent 

9 scams that affect seniors; and 

10 (ii) include— 

11 (I) useful information for retail12 ers, financial services, and wire trans13 fer companies for the purpose described 

14 in clause (i); 

15 (II) training for employees on 

16 ways to identify and prevent senior 

17 scams; 

18 (III) best practices for keeping 

19 employees up to date on current scams; 

20 (IV) the most effective signage and 

21 placement in retail locations to warn 

22 seniors about scammers’ use of gift 

23 cards, prepaid cards, and wire transfer 

24 services; 


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1 (V) suggestions on effective col2 laborative community education cam3 paigns; 

4 (VI) available technology to assist 

5 in identifying possible scams at the 

6 point of sale; and 

7 (VII) other information that 

8 would be helpful to retailers, wire 

9 transfer companies, financial institu10 tions, and their employees as they work 

11 to prevent fraud affecting seniors; and 

12 (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 

13 (A)— 

14 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 

15 deficiencies in those educational materials 

16 and programs for the categories listed in 

17 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 

18 reaching employees to protect older adults; 

19 and 

20 (ii) create model materials, best prac21 tices guidance, or recommendations to fill 

22 those inadequacies, omissions, or defi23 ciencies that may be used by industry and 

24 others to help protect older adults from 

25 scams. 


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

2 Federal Trade Commission shall— 

3 (A) make the materials or guidance created 

4 by the Federal Trade Commission described in 

5 paragraph (1) publicly available; and 

6 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 

7 the materials created under this subsection to 

8 prevent scams affecting seniors by governmental 

9 agencies and the private sector. 

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

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

12 amended— 

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

14 the end; 

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

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

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

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

19 relevant years, information on— 

20 ‘‘(i) the newly created materials, guid21 ance, or recommendations of the Senior 

22 Scams Prevention Advisory Group estab23 lished under section 2 of the Stop Senior 

24 Scams Act, and any relevant views or con25 siderations made by members of the AdviVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S149.RS S149

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1 sory Group that were not included in the 

2 Advisory Group’s model materials or con3 sidered an official recommendation by the 

4 Advisory Group; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad6 visory Group’s findings about senior scams 

7 and industry educational materials and 

8 programs; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 

10 stakeholders can continue to work together 

11 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 

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

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

14 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Calendar No. 393 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 149 

[Report No. 116–182] 

A BILL 

To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory 

Council. 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS