[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5229 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5229
To amend title 18, United States Code, to enhance penalties for certain
cases of gift card fraud, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 4, 2026
Mrs. Moody introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to enhance penalties for certain
cases of gift card fraud, 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 ``Saving Wallets and Increasing
Penalties for Elder Scams Act'' or the ``SWIPES Act''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTING GIFT CARD FRAUD.
(a) Amendments To Section 1029.--Section 1029 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(6)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``; or'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the semicolon
and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) directly or indirectly obtaining an access
device, including by creating, maintaining, or using a
website that collects access device information;'';
(2) in subsection (c)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (i), by striking ``10 years''
and inserting ``20 years''; and
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``15
years'' and inserting ``25 years'';
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) by striking ``20 years'' and inserting
``30 years''; and
(ii) by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and
inserting a semicolon; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) in the case of an offense under paragraph (3)
of subsection (a) in which the amount of access devices
that are counterfeit or unauthorized exceeds 500
devices, a fine under this title or imprisonment for
not more than 25 years, or both; and
``(E) in the case of an offense under paragraph (3)
of subsection (a) in which the amount of access devices
that are counterfeit or unauthorized exceeds 1,000
devices, a fine under this title or imprisonment for
not more than 30 years, or both.''; and
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``or other
telecommunications service, equipment, or
instrument identifier, or other means of
account access'' and inserting ``gift card,
password, cryptographic key, token, digital
asset private key, digital asset recovery
phrase, passkey, one-time password, hardware
security key credential, or other physical or
digital credential, authentication mechanism,
or programmatic identifier''; and
(ii) by inserting ``or other assets'' after
``transfer of funds'';
(B) in paragraph (10), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(C) in paragraph (11), by striking the period and
inserting a semicolon; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(12) the term `gift card' means a physical or virtual
card, code, or device that may be issued to a consumer on a
prepaid basis, in whole or in part, for personal, family, or
household purposes in a specified amount, regardless of whether
that amount may be increased or reloaded in exchange for
payment, and that is redeemable upon presentation by a consumer
at a single merchant, a group of affiliated merchants, or a
group of unaffiliated merchants, including gift card redemption
information.''.
(b) Increased Penalties for Fraud Against Persons Over the Age of
60.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 1029 the following:
``Sec. 1029A. Fraud against persons over the age of 60
``(a) Definition.--For purposes of this section:
``(1) Covered felony violation.--The term `covered felony
violation' means any offense that is a felony violation of--
``(A) any provision contained in this chapter
(relating to fraud and false statements), other than
this section; and
``(B) any provision contained in chapter 63
(relating to mail, bank, and wire fraud).
``(2) Knowingly.--The term `knowingly' means that the
defendant acts with actual knowledge of the victim's age,
deliberate ignorance of the victim's age, or with reckless
disregard for the victim's age.
``(b) Offense.--Whoever, during and in relation to any covered
felony violation, knowingly commits such offense against a person over
the age of 60 shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 2 years,
in addition to the term of imprisonment imposed for the covered felony
violation.
``(c) Consecutive Sentence.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law--
``(1) a court shall not place on probation any person
sentenced under subsection (b), nor shall the term of
imprisonment imposed on a person under subsection (b) run
concurrently with any other term of imprisonment, except as
provided in paragraph (2); and
``(2) a term of imprisonment imposed on a person under this
section may, in the discretion of the court, run concurrently,
in whole or in part, only with another term of imprisonment
that is imposed by the court at the same time on that person
for an additional violation of this section, provided that such
discretion shall be exercised in accordance with any applicable
guidelines and policy statements issued by the United States
Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of title 28.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting the
following item after the item for section 1029:
``1029A. Fraud against persons over the age of 60.''.
(c) Defining Monetary Instruments.--Section 1956(c)(5) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``means (i) coin or currency'' and
inserting the following: ``means--
``(A) coin or currency'';
(2) by striking ``, or (ii) investment securities'' and
inserting the following: ``;
``(B) investment securities'';
(3) in subparagraph (B), as so designated, by striking the
semicolon and inserting ``; or''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) a gift card, as defined in section
1029(e).''.
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