[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 465 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 465

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

                             March 2, 2011

  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 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The proportion of the population of the United States 
        age 60 years or older is predicted to drastically increase in 
        the next 30 years as more than 76,000,000 Baby Boomers approach 
        retirement and old age.
            (2) It is estimated that between 500,000 and 5,000,000 
        seniors in the United States are abused, neglected, or 
        exploited each year.
            (3) Abuse, neglect, and exploitation of seniors crosses 
        racial, social class, gender, and geographic lines.
            (4) Each year millions of individuals in the United States 
        are victims of financial exploitation, including mail, 
        telemarketing, and Internet fraud. Many of those who fall prey 
        to such exploitation are seniors.
            (5) It is difficult to estimate the prevalence of fraud 
        that targets seniors because cases are severely underreported 
        and national statistics on senior fraud do not exist.
            (6) The Federal Bureau of Investigation notes that seniors 
        in the United States 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 who has been a 
        victim of fraud may not report the crime because he or she is 
        concerned that relatives may conclude that the senior 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 pay 
        a financial cost, having been robbed of their hard-earned life 
        savings, and frequently pay an emotional cost, losing 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, Postal Inspection Service 
        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 consumers lose approximately 
        $40,000,000,000 each year 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, though the crime of 
        telemarketing fraud is grossly underreported among seniors who 
        have been victims of such fraud, seniors 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. This is 
        largely due to the fact that many younger Baby Boomers have 
        considerable computer skills and criminals have responded by 
        targeting seniors through online scams like phishing and email 
        spamming, in addition to traditional telephone calls and mass 
        mailings.
            (16) The Internet Crime Complaint Center (hereinafter 
        referred to in this paragraph as ``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, after 
        consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the Chief Postal 
        Inspector for the United States Postal Inspection Service, and 
        the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 
        shall--
                    (A) periodically 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) periodically disseminate to seniors, and 
                families and caregivers of seniors, information on 
                methods available to report fraud targeting seniors, 
                such as--
                            (i) referring complaints to law enforcement 
                        agencies, including the Director of the Federal 
                        Bureau of Investigation and State attorneys 
                        general; and
                            (ii) calling a national toll-free telephone 
                        number established by the Federal Trade 
                        Commission for reporting mail, telemarketing, 
                        and Internet fraud;
                    (C) in response to a specific request by a party to 
                the Federal Trade Commission inquiring about any 
                history of fraud committed by a particular entity or 
                individual, provide to such party any publically 
                available information on any record of law enforcement 
                action for fraud against such entity or individual--
                            (i) by the Federal Trade Commission; and
                            (ii) by any other agency that reports such 
                        actions to the Federal Trade Commission; 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) Procedures and commencement.--The Federal Trade 
        Commission shall establish and implement procedures to carry 
        out the requirements of paragraph (1), including procedures--
                    (A) with respect to the frequency and mode of 
                dissemination of information under subparagraphs (A) 
                and (B) of such paragraph; and
                    (B) that provide for the implementation of the 
                requirements of such paragraph 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 2012 through 2016.

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, the Chief Postal Inspector for the United States 
Postal Inspection Service, and the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection, 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 2012 through 2016.

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 
        have 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.
                                 <all>