[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3494 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3494

To prevent mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors in 
 the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of 
 the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud have 
 on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, their families, and their 
 caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 15, 2010

  Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mr. Kohl) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prevent mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors in 
 the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of 
 the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud have 
 on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, their families, and their 
 caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity, 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 ``Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The proportion of the population of the United States 
        age 60 years or older will drastically increase in the next 30 
        years as more than 76,000,000 Baby Boomers approach retirement 
        and old age.
            (2) Each year, anywhere between 500,000 and 5,000,000 
        seniors in the United States are abused, neglected, or 
        exploited.
            (3) Senior abuse, neglect, and exploitation have no 
        boundaries, and cross all racial, social class, gender, and 
        geographic lines.
            (4) Millions of individuals in the United States are 
        victims of financial exploitation, including mail, 
        telemarketing, and Internet fraud, each year. Many of those who 
        fall prey to these crimes are seniors.
            (5) It is difficult to estimate the prevalence of fraud 
        targeting seniors because cases are severely underreported and 
        national statistics on senior fraud do not exist.
            (6) The Federal Bureau of Investigation notes that senior 
        Americans are less likely to report fraud because they do not 
        know to whom to report, they are ashamed to have been a victim 
        of fraud, or they do not know that they have been a victim of 
        fraud. In some cases, a senior victim of fraud may not report 
        the crime because he or she is concerned that relatives may 
        come to the conclusion that the victim no longer has the mental 
        capacity to take care of his or her own financial affairs.
            (7) According to a 2009 report by the MetLife Mature Market 
        Institute, the annual financial loss by victims of senior 
        financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2,600,000,000.
            (8) Perpetrators of mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud 
        frequently target seniors because seniors are often vulnerable 
        and trusting people.
            (9) As victims of such fraudulent schemes, many seniors 
        have been robbed of their hard-earned life savings and 
        frequently pay an emotional cost, losing not only their money, 
        but also their self-respect and dignity.
            (10) Perpetrators of fraud targeting seniors often operate 
        outside the United States, reaching their victims through the 
        mail, telephone lines, and the Internet.
            (11) The Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act 
        increased the power of the United States Postal Service to 
        protect consumers against persons who use deceptive mailings, 
        such as those featuring games of chance, sweepstakes, skill 
        contests, and facsimile checks.
            (12) During fiscal year 2007, analysts prepared more than 
        27,000 letters and informative postcards in response to mail 
        fraud complaints. During that same year, postal inspectors 
        investigated 2,909 mail fraud cases in the United States, and 
        arrested 1,236 mail fraud suspects, of whom 1,118 were 
        convicted. Postal inspectors also reported 162 telemarketing 
        fraud investigations, with 83 arrests and 61 convictions 
        resulting from such investigations.
            (13) In 2000, the United States Senate Special Committee on 
        Aging reported that, each year, consumers lose approximately 
        $40,000,000,000 to telemarketing fraud, and estimated that 
        approximately 10 percent of the Nation's 14,000 telemarketing 
        firms were fraudulent. Some researchers estimate that only one 
        in 10,000 fraud victims reports the crime to the authorities.
            (14) A 2003 report by AARP found that the crime of 
        telemarketing fraud is grossly underreported among senior 
        victims, but that those who are properly counseled by trained 
        peer volunteers are less likely to fall victim to fraudulent 
        practices.
            (15) The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that the 
        threat of fraud to seniors is growing and changing. Many 
        younger Baby Boomers have considerable computer skills, and 
        criminals are modifying their targeting techniques by using not 
        only traditional telephone calls and mass mailings, but also 
        online scams like phishing and e-mail spamming.
            (16) The IC3 is a partnership between the National White 
        Collar Crime Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
        that serves as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer 
        criminal complaints regarding cybercrime. The IC3 processed 
        more than 219,553 complaints of Internet crime in 2007. From 
        these submissions, the IC3 referred 90,008 complaints of 
        Internet crime, representing a total dollar loss of 
        $239,090,000, to Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
        agencies in the United States for further consideration.
            (17) Consumer awareness is the best protection from fraud.

SEC. 3. CENTRALIZED SERVICE FOR CONSUMER EDUCATION ON MAIL, 
              TELEMARKETING, AND INTERNET FRAUD TARGETING SENIORS.

    (a) Centralized Service.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Federal Trade Commission shall, after 
        consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, the Postmaster General, and the Chief 
        Postal Inspector for the United States Postal Inspection 
        Service--
                    (A) disseminate to seniors and families and 
                caregivers of seniors general information on mail, 
                telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors, 
                including descriptions of the most common fraud 
                schemes;
                    (B) disseminate to seniors and families and 
                caregivers of seniors information on means of referring 
                complaints of fraud targeting seniors to appropriate 
                law enforcement agencies, including the Director of the 
                Federal Bureau of Investigation, the attorneys general 
                of the States, and a national toll-free telephone 
                number for reporting mail, telemarketing, and Internet 
                fraud established by the Federal Trade Commission;
                    (C) in response to a specific request about a 
                particular entity or individual, provide publically 
                available information on any record of civil or 
                criminal law enforcement action for mail, 
                telemarketing, or Internet fraud against such entity; 
                and
                    (D) maintain a Web site to serve as a resource for 
                information for seniors and families and caregivers of 
                seniors regarding mail, telemarketing, and Internet 
                fraud targeting seniors.
            (2) Commencement.--The Federal Trade Commission shall 
        establish and implement procedures to carry out the 
        requirements of paragraph (1) not later than one year after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

SEC. 4. GRANTS TO PREVENT MAIL, TELEMARKETING, AND INTERNET FRAUD.

    (a) Grant Program Authorized.--Subject to the availability of funds 
authorized to be appropriated under this section, the Attorney General, 
after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
Postmaster General, and the Chief Postal Inspector for the United 
States Postal Inspection Service, shall establish and administer a 
competitive grant program to award grants to eligible organizations to 
carry out mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud prevention education 
programs for seniors.
    (b) Eligible Organizations.--The Attorney General may award grants 
under this section to State Attorneys General, State and local law 
enforcement agencies and groups, senior centers, and other local 
nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to seniors, as 
determined by the Attorney General.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS RELATED TO NATIONAL SENIOR FRAUD 
              AWARENESS WEEK.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) there is a need to increase public awareness of the 
        enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud 
        has on senior citizens in the United States;
            (2) a week in the month of May should be designated as 
        ``National Senior Fraud Awareness Week'';
            (3) the people of the United States should observe National 
        Senior Fraud Awareness Week with appropriate educational 
        activities; and
            (4) the President is encouraged to issue a proclamation 
        supporting increased public awareness of the impact of, and the 
        need to prevent, fraud committed against seniors.
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