15 U.S.C. § 45e — Office for the prevention of fraud targeting seniors

submitted 4 years ago by Pub. L. 117-103 to r/title-15-COMMERCE-AND-TRADE · 458 words · no verdicts yet

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This law creates an office inside the FTC to fight fraud that targets seniors. The office watches for scams, educates the public, and tracks complaints. The FTC must start this work within one year of March 15, 2022, using its existing budget.

(a) Establishing the office: The FTC must create an office inside its Bureau of Consumer Protection. This office advises the FTC on stopping fraud that targets seniors, and helps with: (1) Oversight: The office watches for fraud aimed at seniors that happens through mail, TV, the internet, telemarketing, or robocalls (recorded phone calls), and works with other agencies on this. (2) Consumer education: Working with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Postmaster General, the Chief Postal Inspector, and other agencies, the office must: (A) share general information with seniors and their families about common scams; (B) tell seniors and their families how to report fraud, either through the FTC's toll-free number or its Consumer Sentinel Network, which is instantly shared with law enforcement, including the FBI and state attorneys general; (C) when asked about a specific person or company, share any public information about FTC enforcement actions taken against them; and (D) keep a website with resources on these types of fraud for seniors and their families. (3) Complaints: Working with the Attorney General, the office must set up a system to: (A) log and confirm receipt of fraud complaints in the Consumer Sentinel Network, and make them available right away to federal, state, and local law enforcement; and (B) give people who complain, and anyone else, information about common fraud schemes. (b) Start date: The FTC must begin this work within one year of March 15, 2022. (c) No new funding: Congress does not give the FTC extra money for this. The FTC must pay for it using money it already has.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Establishment of Advisory Office

The Federal Trade Commission (in this section referred to as the “Commission”) shall establish an office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the purpose of advising the Commission on the prevention of fraud targeting seniors and to assist the Commission with the following:

(1) Oversight

The advisory office shall monitor the market for mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call (in this section referred to as “robocall”) fraud targeting seniors and shall coordinate with other relevant agencies regarding the requirements of this section.

(2) Consumer education

The Commission, through the advisory office and in 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 other relevant agencies, shall—

(A)

disseminate to seniors and families and caregivers of seniors general information on mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud targeting seniors, including descriptions of the most common fraud schemes;

(B)

disseminate to seniors and families and caregivers of seniors information on reporting complaints of fraud targeting seniors either to the national toll-free telephone number established by the Commission for reporting such complaints, or to the Consumer Sentinel Network, operated by the Commission, where such complaints will become immediately available to appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the attorneys general of the States;

(C)

in response to a specific request about a particular entity or individual, provide publicly available information of any enforcement action taken by the Commission for mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud against such entity; and

(D)

maintain a website to serve as a resource for information for seniors and families and caregivers of seniors regarding mail, television, internet, telemarketing, robocall, and other identified fraud targeting seniors.

(3) Complaints

The Commission, through the advisory office and in consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish procedures to—

(A)

log and acknowledge the receipt of complaints by individuals who believe they have been a victim of mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud in the Consumer Sentinel Network, and shall make those complaints immediately available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities; and

(B)

provide to individuals described in subparagraph (A), and to any other persons, specific and general information on mail, television, internet, telemarketing, and robocall fraud, including descriptions of the most common schemes using such methods of communication.

(b) Commencement

The Commission shall commence carrying out the requirements of this section not later than 1 year after March 15, 2022.

No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section and the Commission shall carry out this section using amounts otherwise made available to the Commission.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 117–103, div. Q, title I, § 122, Mar. 15, 2022, 136 Stat. 811.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2022Enacted · Pub. L. 117-103 · 136 Stat. 811

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 117-103 on 2022-03-15.

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