I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 612
To protect the public, especially seniors, against telemarketing fraud, includ-
ing fraud over the Internet, and to authorize an educational campaign
to improve senior citizens’ ability to protect themselves against tele-
marketing fraud.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 4, 1999
Mr. WEYGAND (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. GEJDENSON, Ms. KIL-
PATRICK, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Ms. NORTON, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
LAFALCE, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. FORD, Mr. BALDACCI, Mrs.
THURMAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. GREEN of
Texas, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to
the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To protect the public, especially seniors, against tele-
marketing fraud, including fraud over the Internet, and
to authorize an educational campaign to improve senior
citizens’ ability to protect themselves against tele-
marketing fraud.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—PROTECTION AGAINST
SCAMS ON SENIORS
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Protection Against
Scams on Seniors Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) telemarketing fraud costs consumers nearly
$40,000,000,000 each year;
(2) nearly 10 percent of the 140,000 tele-
marketing firms in the United States engage in
fraud;
(3) senior citizens are often the target of tele-
marketing fraud;
(4) 
fraudulent 
telemarketers 
compile 
into
‘‘mooch lists’’ the names of potentially vulnerable
consumers;
(5) according to the American Association of
Retired Persons, 56 percent of the names on ‘‘mooch
lists’’ are individuals age 50 or older;
(6) the Department of Justice has undertaken
successful investigations and prosecutions of tele-
marketing fraud through various operations, includ-
ing ‘‘Operation Disconnect’’, ‘‘Operation Senior Sen-
tinel’’, and ‘‘Operation Upload’’;
(7) the Federal Bureau of Investigation has
helped provide resources to assist organizations such
as the American Association of Retired Persons to
operate outreach programs designed to warn senior
citizens whose names appear on confiscated ‘‘mooch
lists’’;
(8) the Administration on Aging was formed, in
part, to provide senior citizens with the resources,
information, and assistance their special cir-
cumstances require;
(9) the Administration on Aging has a system
in place to effectively inform senior citizens of the
dangers of telemarketing fraud; and
(10) senior citizens need to be warned of the
dangers of telemarketing fraud before they become
victims.
SEC. 103. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this title through education and
outreach to protect senior citizens from the dangers of
telemarketing fraud and to facilitate the investigation and
prosecution of fraudulent telemarketers.
SEC. 104. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary
for Aging, shall publicly disseminate in each State infor-