Veterans and Servicemember Consumer Protection Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.4483 | Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Kathleen M. (D-NY)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Veterans and Servicemember Consumer Protection Act of 2021
This bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to designate a coordinator within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on preventing fraud targeting military veterans and service members and to assist the FTC in monitoring the market for mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call (robocall) fraud targeting those individuals.
The coordinator must (1) disseminate to veterans, service members, and their families and caregivers information about the most common fraud schemes, including methods of reporting complaints to the FTC; (2) make complaints immediately available to relevant law enforcement authorities; (3) publish information regarding the FTC's enforcement actions; and (4) maintain a website as a resource for information on fraud targeting those individuals.

To establish a coordinator within the Federal Trade Commission to 
   prevent fraud and scams targeting or adversely affecting military 
          veterans and servicemembers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans and Servicemember Consumer 
Protection Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. COORDINATOR FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD AND SCAMS TARGETING OR 
              ADVERSELY AFFECTING VETERANS AND SERVICEMEMBERS.

    (a) Establishment of Coordinator.--The Chairman of the Federal 
Trade Commission shall designate a coordinator (in this section 
referred to as the ``coordinator'') within the Bureau of Consumer 
Protection for the purpose of advising the Commission on the prevention 
of fraud and other scams targeting or adversely affecting United States 
military veterans and servicemembers and to assist the Commission with 
the following:
            (1) Oversight.--The coordinator shall collaborate with 
        other staff of the Bureau of Consumer Protection to monitor the 
        market for fraud and scams using mail, television, internet, 
        telemarketing, or recorded message telephone call (in this 
        section referred to as ``robocall'') solicitations and 
        marketing that target or adversely affect United States 
        military veterans and servicemembers and shall assist in 
        coordinating with other relevant agencies as appropriate 
        regarding the requirements of this section.
            (2) Consumer education.--The coordinator shall, in 
        consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, the Postmaster 
        General, the Chief Postal Inspector for the United States 
        Postal Inspection Service, and other relevant agencies as 
        appropriate, coordinate and support the Commission's work to--
                    (A) disseminate to United States military veterans 
                and servicemembers and the families and caregivers of 
                such individuals general information on fraud and scams 
                using mail, television, internet, telemarketing, or 
                robocall solicitations and marketing that target or 
                adversely affect United States military veterans and 
                servicemembers, including descriptions of the most 
                common fraud and other scams;
                    (B) disseminate to United States military veterans 
                and servicemembers and the families and caregivers of 
                such individuals information on reporting fraud and 
                scams targeting or adversely affecting United States 
                military veterans and servicemembers to 
                ReportFraud.ftc.gov (or another appropriate website 
                operated by the Commission, as determined by the 
                Chairman of the Commission) where such complaints will 
                become available to applicable law enforcement 
                agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
                and the attorneys general of the States;
                    (C) provide publicly available information about 
                enforcement actions taken by the Commission related to 
                fraud or scams using mail, television, internet, 
                telemarketing, or robocall solicitations and marketing; 
                and
                    (D) maintain a website to serve as a resource for 
                information for United States military veterans and 
                servicemembers and the families and caregivers of such 
                individuals regarding fraud or scams using mail, 
                television, internet, telemarketing, or robocall 
                solicitations and marketing, and other identified fraud 
                and other scams, that target or adversely affect United 
                States military veterans and servicemembers.
            (3) Complaints.--The coordinator shall coordinate and 
        support the Commission's establishment of procedures to--
                    (A) review complaints by United States military 
                veterans and servicemembers who believe they have been 
                a victim of fraud or scams using mail, television, 
                internet, telemarketing, or robocall solicitations and 
                marketing in the Consumer Sentinel Network, and shall 
                make those complaints immediately available to 
                applicable Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
                authorities; and
                    (B) regularly update the Consumer Sentinel 
                Network's Military Dashboard Report to make public 
                aggregated, general information on reports of fraud and 
                scams using mail, television, internet, telemarketing, 
                or robocall solicitations and marketing, including 
                descriptions of the most common fraud and other scams 
                using such methods of communication.
    (b) Commission Defined.--In this section, the term ``Commission'' 
means the Federal Trade Commission.
    (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date 
that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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