II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 149 

To establish a Senior Scams Prevention Advisory Council. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2019 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENIOR SCAMS PREVENTION ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

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

8 Scams Prevention Advisory Council (referred to in this 

9 Act as the ‘‘Advisory Council’’). 


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•S 149 IS

1 (b) MEMBERS.—The Advisory Council shall be com2 posed of the following members or the designees of those 

3 members: 

4 (1) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Com5 mission. 

6 (2) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

7 (3) The Attorney General. 

8 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

9 Financial Protection. 

10 (5) Not more than 2 representatives from each 

11 of the following sectors, including trade associations, 

12 to be selected by the Chairman of the Federal Trade 

13 Commission: 

14 (A) Retail. 

15 (B) Gift card. 

16 (C) Telecommunications. 

17 (D) Wire-transfer services. 

18 (E) Senior peer advocates. 

19 (F) Consumer advocacy organization with 

20 efforts focused on preventing seniors from be21 coming the victims of scams. 

22 (G) Financial services, including institu23 tions who engage in digital currency. 

24 (H) Prepaid cards. 


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

2 Federal Reserve System. 

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

4 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

5 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

6 (8) The Director of the Financial Crimes En7 forcement Network. 

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

9 industry representative, consumer advocate, or enti10 ty, as determined by the Chairman of the Federal 

11 Trade Commission. 

12 (c) DUTIES.— 

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

14 while considering public comment— 

15 (A) collect information on the existence, 

16 use, and success of model educational materials 

17 and programs for retailers, financial services 

18 and wire-transfer companies, which— 

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

20 employees on how to identify and prevent 

21 scams that affect seniors; and 

22 (ii) include— 

23 (I) useful information for retail24 ers, financial services, and wire transVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S149.IS S149

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1 fer companies for the purpose de2 scribed in clause (i); 

3 (II) training for employees on 

4 ways to identify and prevent senior 

5 scams; 

6 (III) the best methods for keep7 ing employees up to date on current 

8 scams; 

9 (IV) the most effective signage 

10 and best placement for signage in re11 tail locations to warn seniors about 

12 scammers’ use of gift cards, prepaid 

13 cards, and wire transfer services; 

14 (V) suggestions on effective col15 laborative community education cam16 paigns; 

17 (VI) available technology to as18 sist in identifying possible scams at 

19 the point of sale; and 

20 (VII) other information that 

21 would be helpful to retailers, wire 

22 transfer companies, financial institu23 tions, and their employees as they 

24 work to prevent fraud affecting sen25 iors; and 


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1 (B) based on the findings in subparagraph 

2 (A)— 

3 (i) identify inadequacies, omissions, or 

4 deficiencies in those educational materials 

5 and programs for the categories listed in 

6 subparagraph (A) and their execution in 

7 reaching employees to protect older adults; 

8 and 

9 (ii) create model materials to fill those 

10 inadequacies, omissions, or deficiencies. 

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

12 Federal Trade Commission shall, after the public 

13 comment period is complete— 

14 (A) make the model educational materials 

15 and programs and information about execution 

16 of the programs described in paragraph (1) 

17 publicly available; and 

18 (B) encourage the use and distribution of 

19 the materials created under this subsection to 

20 prevent scams affecting seniors by govern21 mental agencies and the private sector. 

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

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

24 amended— 


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

2 the end; 

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

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

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

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

7 include information on— 

8 ‘‘(i) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad9 visory Council’s newly created model mate10 rials, any recommendations of the Advisory 

11 Council, and any views or considerations 

12 made by members of the Advisory Council 

13 or by public comment that were not in14 cluded in the Advisory Council’s model ma15 terials or considered an official rec16 ommendation by the Advisory Council; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the Senior Scams Prevention Ad18 visory Council’s findings about senior 

19 scams (including information about the 

20 ways scams affect seniors, including the 

21 negative effects on their well-being); and 

22 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations on ways 

23 stakeholders can continue to work together 

24 to reduce scams affecting seniors.’’. 


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

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

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

Æ 


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