| 1 | 1 | | IV |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. RES. 397 |
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| 5 | 5 | | Supporting the designation of May 8, 2025, as ‘‘National Scam Survivor |
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| 6 | 6 | | Day’’. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MAY7, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. S |
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| 10 | 10 | | TEIL(for himself, Mr. HARDERof California, and Mr. MEUSER) sub- |
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| 11 | 11 | | mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on |
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| 12 | 12 | | Energy and Commerce |
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| 13 | 13 | | RESOLUTION |
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| 14 | 14 | | Supporting the designation of May 8, 2025, as ‘‘National |
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| 15 | 15 | | Scam Survivor Day’’. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Whereas approximately 2,600,000 Americans filed fraud re- |
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| 17 | 17 | | ports with the Federal Trade Commission in 2024; |
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| 18 | 18 | | Whereas it is estimated that American citizens lost more than |
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| 19 | 19 | | $12,500,000,000 to scams in 2024, an increase of |
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| 20 | 20 | | $2,500,000,000 from the previous year; |
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| 21 | 21 | | Whereas the Better Business Bureau found that 44 percent |
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| 22 | 22 | | of scam reports in 2024 resulted in a dollar loss for the |
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| 23 | 23 | | individual, with a 30 percent increase in average dollar |
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| 24 | 24 | | loss per scam report; |
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| 25 | 25 | | Whereas scammers continue to develop new strategies to tar- |
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| 26 | 26 | | get American citizens, including— |
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| 27 | 27 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR397.IH HR397 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •HRES 397 IH |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) social media scams, where the Federal Trade |
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| 31 | 31 | | Commission estimates the highest overall reported losses, |
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| 32 | 32 | | totaling $1,900,000,000; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) small business scams such as fraudulent in- |
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| 34 | 34 | | voices, advertising offerings, and impersonations of gov- |
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| 35 | 35 | | ernment officials; and |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) scams using artificial intelligence to create false |
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| 37 | 37 | | audio or video files; |
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| 38 | 38 | | Whereas targeting of at-risk individuals for scams is on the |
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| 39 | 39 | | rise, including— |
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| 40 | 40 | | (1) veterans, who reported $584,000,000 in losses to |
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| 41 | 41 | | scams in 2024 alone, according to the Federal Trade |
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| 42 | 42 | | Commission, and who are often targeted by individuals |
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| 43 | 43 | | posing as Department of Veterans Affairs officials or |
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| 44 | 44 | | health care providers; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) seniors, in which a study by the University of |
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| 46 | 46 | | Michigan found that 75 percent of Americans ages 50 to |
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| 47 | 47 | | 80 experienced a scam attempt between 2021 and 2023, |
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| 48 | 48 | | and 30 percent fell victim to a scam; and |
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| 49 | 49 | | (3) young adults, who are now losing more money to |
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| 50 | 50 | | scams than any other age group through fraudulent em- |
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| 51 | 51 | | ployment offers, investment opportunities, and checks |
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| 52 | 52 | | and money orders, according to the Better Business Bu- |
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| 53 | 53 | | reau; and |
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| 54 | 54 | | Whereas there is a greater need for increasing awareness of |
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| 55 | 55 | | scams, including— |
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| 56 | 56 | | (1) providing consumers and business owners with |
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| 57 | 57 | | knowledge and tools to avoid scams; |
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| 58 | 58 | | (2) encouraging Americans to utilize Federal Gov- |
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| 59 | 59 | | ernment resources to identify and address potential |
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| 60 | 60 | | scams; and |
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| 61 | 61 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR397.IH HR397 |
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| 62 | 62 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HRES 397 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | (3) improving the ability of Federal law enforcement |
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| 65 | 65 | | to discover, track, and halt scam operations to protect |
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| 66 | 66 | | the American people: Now, therefore, be it |
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| 67 | 67 | | Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Scam 2 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Survivor Day’’; 3 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (2) encourages increased public awareness of 4 |
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| 71 | 71 | | scams and strategies to prevent or address scams; 5 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (3) recognizes the impact of scams on American 6 |
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| 73 | 73 | | citizens and businesses; 7 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (4) recognizes the importance of improving pub-8 |
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| 75 | 75 | | lic access to scam prevention resources; 9 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (5) understands that encouraging scam sur-10 |
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| 77 | 77 | | vivors to tell their story combats the stigma that 11 |
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| 78 | 78 | | may prevent individuals from seeking the guidance 12 |
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| 79 | 79 | | and assistance they deserve; 13 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (6) supports the role of Federal and local law 14 |
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| 81 | 81 | | enforcement entities in addressing scams; 15 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (7) urges a collaborative approach to supporting 16 |
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| 83 | 83 | | scam survivors and prevent future scams among gov-17 |
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| 84 | 84 | | ernmental, private, and nonprofit organizations; and 18 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (8) encourages continued improvements to ex-19 |
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| 86 | 86 | | isting scam prevention resource toolkits, support for 20 |
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| 87 | 87 | | scam survivors, and law enforcement efforts to hold 21 |
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| 88 | 88 | | scammers accountable. 22 |
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| 89 | 89 | | Æ |
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| 90 | 90 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR397.IH HR397 |
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| 91 | 91 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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