[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 699 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 699

      To protect the public, especially senior citizens, against 
    telemarketing fraud, including fraud over the Internet, and to 
 authorize an educational campaign to improve senior citizens' ability 
           to protect themselves against telemarketing fraud.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 24, 1999

 Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Baucus) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To protect the public, especially senior citizens, against 
    telemarketing fraud, including fraud over the Internet, and to 
 authorize an educational campaign to improve senior citizens' ability 
           to protect themselves against telemarketing fraud.

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

        TITLE I--TELEMARKETING FRAUD AND SENIORS PROTECTION ACT

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Telemarketing Fraud and Seniors 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 102. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Telemarketing fraud costs consumers nearly 
        $40,000,000,000 each year.
            (2) Senior citizens are often the target of telemarketing 
        fraud.
            (3) Fraudulent telemarketers compile into so-called ``mooch 
        lists'' the names of consumers who are potentially vulnerable 
        to telemarketing fraud.
            (4) According to the American Association of Retired 
        Persons, 56 percent of the names on such ``mooch lists'' are 
        individuals age 50 or older.
            (5) The Department of Justice has undertaken successful 
        investigations and prosecutions of telemarketing fraud through 
        various operations, including ``Operation Disconnect'', 
        ``Operation Senior Sentinel'', and ``Operation Upload''.
            (6) 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''.
            (7) The Administration on Aging was formed, in part, to 
        provide senior citizens with the resources, information, and 
        assistance their special circumstances require.
            (8) The Administration on Aging has a system in place to 
        inform senior citizens of the dangers of telemarketing fraud.
            (9) Senior citizens need to be warned of the dangers of 
        telemarketing fraud before they become victims of such fraud.

SEC. 103. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this title to protect senior citizens, through 
education and outreach, from the dangers of telemarketing fraud and 
fraud over the Internet 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 of Health and Human Services for Aging, 
shall publicly disseminate in each State information designed to 
educate senior citizens and raise awareness about the dangers of 
telemarketing fraud and fraud over the Internet.
    (b) Information.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) inform senior citizens of the prevalence of 
        telemarketing fraud targeted against them;
            (2) inform senior citizens how telemarketing fraud works;
            (3) inform senior citizens how to identify telemarketing 
        fraud;
            (4) inform senior citizens how to protect themselves 
        against telemarketing fraud, including an explanation of the 
        dangers of providing bank account, credit card, or other 
        financial or personal information over the telephone to 
        unsolicited callers;
            (5) inform senior citizens how to report suspected attempts 
        at telemarketing fraud;
            (6) inform senior citizens of their consumer protection 
        rights under Federal law; and
            (7) provide such other information as the Secretary 
        considers necessary to protect senior citizens against 
        fraudulent telemarketing.
    (c) Means of Dissemination.--The Secretary shall determine the 
means to disseminate information under this section. In making such 
determination, the Secretary shall consider--
            (1) public service announcements;
            (2) a printed manual or pamphlet;
            (3) an Internet website; and
            (4) telephone outreach to individuals whose names appear on 
        so-called ``mooch lists'' confiscated from fraudulent 
        telemarketers.
    (d) Priority.--In disseminating information under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to areas with high concentrations of 
senior citizens.

SEC. 105. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT GIFTS.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services may accept, use, and 
dispose of unconditional gifts, bequests, or devises of services or 
property, both real and personal, in order to carry out this title.

SEC. 106. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this title, the term ``State'' includes the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin 
Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands.

            TITLE II--TELEMARKETING FRAUD OVER THE INTERNET

SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF CRIMINAL FRAUD STATUTE TO INTERNET.

    (a) Extension.--Section 1343 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Whoever'';
            (2) in subsection (a), as so designated, by striking ``or 
        television communication'' and inserting ``television, or 
        Internet communication''; and
            (3) by adding at the end thereof the following:
    ``(b) For purposes of this section, the term `Internet' means 
collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, 
including equipment and operating software, which comprise the 
interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the 
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or 
successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all 
kinds by wire or radio.''.
    (b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--(1) The section heading of 
such section is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1343. Fraud by wire, radio, television, or Internet''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 63 of that 
title is amended by striking the item relating to section 1343 and 
inserting the following new item:

``1343. Fraud by wire, radio, television, or Internet.''.

SEC. 202. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SANCTIONS.

    (a) Rulemaking to Apply Sanctions.--The Federal Trade Commission 
shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to set forth the application of 
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45), and other 
statutory provisions within its jurisdiction, to deceptive acts or 
practices in or affecting the commerce of the United States in 
connection with the promotion, advertisement, offering for sale, or 
sale of goods or services through use of the Internet, including the 
initiation, transmission, and receipt of unsolicited commercial 
electronic mail.
    (b) Internet Defined.--In this section, the term ``Internet'' means 
collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, 
including equipment and operating software, which comprise the 
interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the 
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or 
successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all 
kinds by wire or radio.
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