S. 5229

119 S5229 IS: Saving Wallets and Increasing Penalties for Elder Scams Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-08-04
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 5229  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Saving Wallets and Increasing Penalties for Elder Scams Act   or the   SWIPES Act  .
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:
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).
 .