GUARD Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2978 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2978

   To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies that
      receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds for
   investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general
 financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies
may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use
 of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 2025

  Mr. Nunn of Iowa (for himself, Mr. Gottheimer, and Mr. Fitzgerald)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies that
      receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds for
   investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general
 financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies
may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use
 of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, 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 ``Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees
from Deception Act'' or the ``GUARD Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Elder financial fraud.--The term ``elder financial
        fraud'' means the illegal or improper use of an elderly or
        adult with a disability's money, property, or other resources
        for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain.
            (2) Eligible federal grant funds.--The term ``eligible
        Federal grant funds'' means funds received under the following:
                    (A) The Department of Justice Economic, High-
                Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention
                National Training and Technical Assistance Program.
                    (B) The Department of Justice Information Sharing
                Training and Technical Assistance Program.
                    (C) The Department of Justice Internet of Things
                National Training and Technical Assistance Program.
                    (D) Section 1401 of the Violence Against Women Act
                Reauthorization Act of 2022 (34 U.S.C. 30107; relating
                to Local Law Enforcement Grants for Enforcement of
                Cybercrimes Against Individuals).
                    (E) The Department of Justice COPS Technology and
                Equipment Program.
            (3) General financial fraud.--The term ``general financial
        fraud'' means the intentional misrepresentation of information
        or identity to deceive others, the unlawful use of a credit
        card, debit card, or automated teller machine or the use of
        electronic means to transmit deceptive information, in order to
        obtain money or other things of value.
            (4) Pig butchering.--The term ``pig butchering'' means a
        confidence and investment fraud in which the victim is
        gradually lured into making increasing monetary contributions,
        generally in the form of cryptocurrency, to a seemingly sound
        investment before the scammer disappears with the contributed
        monies.
            (5) Scam.--The term ``scam'' means a financial crime
        undertaken through the use of social engineering that uses
        deceptive inducement to acquire--
                    (A) authorized access to funds; or
                    (B) personal or sensitive information that can
                facilitate the theft of financial assets.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
        States, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the
        United States.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL GRANTS USED FOR INVESTIGATING ELDER FINANCIAL FRAUD,
              PIG BUTCHERING, AND GENERAL FINANCIAL FRAUD.

    (a) In General.--State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies
that receive eligible Federal grant funds may use such funds for
investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general
financial fraud, including by--
            (1) hiring and retaining analysts, agents, experts, and
        other personnel;
            (2) providing training specific to complex financial
        investigations, including training on--
                    (A) coordination and collaboration between State,
                local, Tribal, and Federal law enforcement agencies;
                    (B) assisting victims of financial fraud and
                exploitation;
                    (C) the use of blockchain intelligence tools and
                related capabilities related to emerging technologies
                identified in the February 2024 ``Critical and Emerging
                Technology List Update'' of the Fast Track Action
                Subcommittee on Critical and Emerging Technologies of
                the National Science and Technology Council (the
                ``Critical and Emerging Technology List''); and
                    (D) unique aspects of fraud investigations,
                including transnational financial investigations and
                emerging technologies identified in the Critical and
                Emerging Technology List;
            (3) obtaining software and technical tools to conduct
        financial fraud and exploitation investigations;
            (4) encouraging improved data collection and reporting;
            (5) supporting training and tabletop exercises to enhance
        coordination and communication between financial institutions
        and State, local, Tribal and Federal law enforcement agencies
        for the purpose of stopping fraud and scams; and
            (6) designating a financial sector liaison to serve as a
        point of contact for financial institutions to share and
        exchange with State, local, Tribal and Federal law enforcement
        agencies information relevant to the investigation of fraud and
        scams.
    (b) Report to Grant Provider.--Each law enforcement agency that
makes use of eligible Federal grant funds for a purpose specified under
subsection (a) shall, not later than 1 year after making such use of
the funds, issue a report to the Federal agency that provided the
eligible Federal grant funds, containing--
            (1) an explanation of the amount of funds so used, and the
        specific purpose for which the funds were used;
            (2) statistics with respect to elder financial fraud, pig
        butchering, and general financial fraud in the jurisdiction of
        the law enforcement agency, along with an analysis of how the
        use of the funds for a purpose specified under subsection (a)
        affected such statistics; and
            (3) an assessment of the ability of the law enforcement
        agency to deter elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and
        general financial fraud.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON GENERAL FINANCIAL FRAUD, PIG BUTCHERING, AND ELDER
              FINANCIAL FRAUD.

    No later than a year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network in consultation with the Attorney General, the
Secretary of Homeland Security, and the appropriate Federal banking
agencies and Federal functional regulators shall, jointly, submit to
Congress a report on efforts and recommendations related to general
financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial fraud, and scams.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE STATE OF SCAMS IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director
of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in consultation with the
Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the
appropriate Federal banking agencies and Federal functional regulators
shall submit a report to the Congress on the state of scams in the
United States that--
            (1) estimates--
                    (A) the number of financial fraud, pig butchering,
                elder financial fraud, and scams committed against
                American consumers each year, including--
                            (i) attempted scams, including through
                        social media, online dating services, email,
                        impersonation of financial institutions and
                        non-bank financial institutions;
                            (ii) successful scams, including through
                        social media, online dating services, email,
                        impersonation of financial institutions and
                        non-bank financial institutions;
                    (B) the number of consumers each year that lose
                money to one or more scams;
                    (C) the dollar amount of consumer losses to scams
                each year;
                    (D) the percentage of scams each year that can be
                attributed to--
                            (i) overseas actors; and
                            (ii) organized crime;
                    (E) the number of attempted scams each year that
                involve the impersonation of phone numbers associated
                with financial institutions and non-bank financial
                institutions;
                    (F) an estimate of the number of synthetic
                identities impersonating American consumers each year;
            (2) provides an overview of the Federal civil and criminal
        enforcement actions brought against the recipients of the
        proceeds of financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial
        fraud, and scams in the period covered by the report that
        includes--
                    (A) the number of such enforcement actions;
                    (B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of such
                enforcement actions;
                    (C) an identification of the types of claims
                brought against the recipients the recipients of the
                proceeds of financial fraud, pig butchering, elder
                financial fraud, and scams;
                    (D) an identification of the types of penalties
                imposed through such enforcement actions;
                    (E) an identification of the types of relief
                obtained through such enforcement actions; and
                    (F) the number of such enforcement actions that are
                connected to a Suspicious Activity Report; and
            (3) identifies amounts made available and amounts expended
        to address financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial
        fraud, and scams during the period covered by the report by--
                    (A) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
                    (B) the Department of Justice;
                    (C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
                    (D) the Federal Communications Commission;
                    (E) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
                Board;
                    (F) the Federal Trade Commission;
                    (G) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network;
                    (H) the Securities and Exchange Commission; and
                    (I) the Social Security Administration.
    (b) Solicitation of Public Comment.--In carrying out the report
required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
solicit comments from consumers, social media companies, email
providers, telecommunications companies, financial institutions, non-
bank financial institutions.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Each Federal agency that provides eligible Federal grant funds that
are used for a purpose specified under section 3(a) shall issue an
annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate containing the information received from law
enforcement agencies under section 3(b).

SEC. 7. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ASSISTING STATE, LOCAL, AND
              TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FUSION CENTERS.

    Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and
Tribal law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in the use of
tracing tools for blockchain and related technology tools.
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