[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3025 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3025

           To combat telemarketing and mass marketing fraud.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 11, 2000

   Mr. Bayh introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To combat telemarketing and mass marketing fraud.

    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 ``Combating Fraud Against Seniors 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CENTRALIZED COMPLAINT AND CONSUMER EDUCATION SERVICE FOR 
              VICTIMS OF TELEMARKETING FRAUD.

    (a) Centralized Service.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Federal Trade Commission shall, after 
        consultation with the Attorney General, establish procedures 
        to--
                    (A) log and acknowledge the receipt of complaints 
                by individuals who certify that they have a reasonable 
                belief that they have been the victim of fraud in 
                connection with the conduct of telemarketing (as that 
                term is defined in section 2325 of title 18, United 
                States Code, as amended by subsection (d) of this 
                section);
                    (B) provide to individuals described in 
                subparagraph (A), and to any other persons, information 
                on telemarketing fraud, including--
                            (i) general information on telemarketing 
                        fraud, including descriptions of the most 
                        common telemarketing fraud schemes;
                            (ii) information on means of referring 
                        complaints on telemarketing fraud to 
                        appropriate law enforcement agencies, including 
                        the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
                        Investigation and the Attorney General; and
                            (iii) information, if available, on the 
                        number of complaints of telemarketing fraud 
                        against particular companies and any record of 
                        convictions for telemarketing fraud by 
                        particular companies for which a specific 
                        request has been made; and
                    (C) refer complaints described in subparagraph (A) 
                to appropriate entities, including State consumer 
                protection agencies or entities and appropriate law 
                enforcement agencies, for potential law enforcement 
                action.
            (2) Central location.--The service under the procedures 
        under paragraph (1) shall be provided at and through a single 
        site selected by the Commission for that purpose.
            (3) Commencement.--The Commission shall commence carrying 
        out the service not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Creation of Fraud Conviction Database.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Attorney General shall establish and 
        maintain a computer database containing information on the 
        corporations and companies convicted of offenses for 
        telemarketing fraud under Federal and State law. The database 
        shall include a description of the type and method of the fraud 
        scheme for which each corporation or company covered by the 
        database was convicted.
            (2) Use of database.--The Attorney General shall make 
        information in the database available to the Federal Trade 
        Commission for purposes of providing information as part of the 
        service under subsection (a).
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
    (d) Expansion of Scope of Telemarketing Fraud Subject to Enhanced 
Criminal Penalties.--Section 2325(1) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended by striking ``telephone calls'' and inserting ``wire 
communications utilizing a telephone service''.

SEC. 3. ENHANCED CRIMINAL PENALTIES IN CONNECTION WITH MASS MARKETING.

    Section 2326 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A person'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--A person'';
            (2) by inserting ``or mass marketing'' after 
        ``telemarketing''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Mass Marketing Defined.--In this section, the term `mass 
marketing' means a plan, program, promotion, or campaign that is 
conducted through solicitation by telephone, mail, the Internet, or 
other means to induce a large number of persons to--
            ``(1) purchase goods or services:
            ``(2) participate in a contest or sweepstakes; or
            ``(3) invest for financial profit.''.

SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO COMBAT FRAUD.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission 
$20,000,000 for each fiscal year to combat telemarketing and mass 
marketing fraud, of which not less than $5,000,000 shall be used in 
each fiscal year to combat telemarketing and mass marketing fraud 
against the elderly.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``mass marketing'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 2326 of title 18, United States Code, as 
        amended by this Act; and
            (2) the term ``telemarketing'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 2325 of title 18, United States Code, as 
        amended by this Act.
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