This Senate resolution designates a national awareness day called 'National Slam the Scam Day' to focus public attention on government imposter scams and other frauds and to promote education as a primary prevention tool. It is a nonbinding statement that asks law enforcement, consumer groups, telephone companies, area agencies on aging, and financial institutions to play roles in preventing scams and educating the public.
The resolution matters for organizations that run outreach or compliance programs because it consolidates federal messaging about scams, highlights the disproportionate impact on older adults, and explicitly encourages improved reporting and coordination across agencies and service providers. Although ceremonial, the text points to specific reporting channels and to groups that policymakers and program managers should engage in planning any awareness campaigns or operational responses.
At a Glance
What It Does
The resolution designates a national day for scam awareness and formally recognizes government imposter scams as a national problem. It urges the implementation of prevention policies, improved protective measures, public education, and reporting to appropriate agencies.
Who It Affects
Directly implicated stakeholders include federal and state law enforcement, consumer protection organizations, telephone and communications providers, area agencies on aging, and financial institutions that process consumer transactions. Older adults and other high-risk consumer groups are the primary intended beneficiaries of the awareness activities.
Why It Matters
The resolution consolidates and amplifies federal messaging on scams, identifies specific reporting channels, and signals to public- and private-sector actors that coordinated outreach is a congressional priority. For practitioners, it points to where to focus outreach and where reporting is encouraged.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The resolution opens with a factual framing drawn from federal data: the sponsors cite large aggregate consumer losses and a notable rise in high-dollar losses reported by older adults. The text identifies government imposter scams—where fraudsters impersonate agencies such as the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service—as a prominent threat and lists the communication channels scammers use, including phone calls, mail, text, email, social media, and websites.
Instead of creating new legal obligations, the resolution directs attention and encouragement: it asks that policymakers and service providers implement policies and programs to prevent government imposter scams and improve protective measures. It explicitly recognizes that law enforcement, consumer protection groups, telephone companies, area agencies on aging, and financial institutions ‘‘play vital roles’’ and should be part of prevention and education efforts.The resolution also sets out concrete reporting suggestions for the public, naming examples of agencies and offices that receive scam complaints, and it encourages individuals to ignore unsolicited contacts from people claiming to be government employees and to share information with friends and family.
Finally, the text honors the organizations and individuals working against scams, which serves to spotlight existing hotlines and coalitions that policymakers and program managers can partner with when designing outreach or enforcement strategies.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The resolution designates March 5, 2026 as 'National Slam the Scam Day' to concentrate outreach and education on scams.
It cites 2025 Federal Trade Commission reporting that fraud losses exceeded $12 billion in the first three quarters, with more than $700 million attributed to imposter scams.
The text highlights that since 2020 there has been a more-than-fourfold increase in older adults reporting losses of $10,000 or more and mentions that some have lost entire life savings.
The resolution explicitly names government agencies commonly impersonated—Social Security, Medicare/Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Postal Service, and the Internal Revenue Service—as examples of targets in imposter scams.
It encourages the public to report such scams and gives examples of reporting points, including the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Findings on scope and harm of scams
The preamble collects data points—FTC loss figures, median individual losses, and hotline complaint counts—to justify the need for national awareness. Practically, these findings serve to orient agencies and partners toward populations and modalities (e.g., phone, mail, digital channels) that empirical data identify as high-risk and thereby guide the focus of any outreach tied to the designated day.
Creates 'National Slam the Scam Day'
This single-sentence clause formally designates the national day. Because the resolution is nonbinding, the clause confers no regulatory authority but provides a date around which federal agencies and nonfederal partners can schedule coordinated publicity, trainings, or information campaigns.
Recognizes scope and communication channels of government imposter scams
The resolution recognizes that scammers use multiple contact methods—mail, telephone, text, email, social media, and websites—when impersonating government employees. For outreach designers, that recognition is a prompt to use multi-channel education strategies rather than relying solely on one medium.
Identifies key public- and private-sector actors
This clause lists law enforcement, consumer protection groups, telephone companies, area agencies on aging, and financial institutions as 'vital' players. The language signals congressional expectation of cross-sector coordination and may influence which partners receive priority in any federally supported awareness efforts.
Encourages prevention policies and public reporting
The resolution urges implementation of policies and programs to prevent impersonation scams and explicitly encourages improved protective measures. It also asks members of the public to ignore false solicitations, share information within social networks, and report incidents to named agencies—functionally directing attention to existing reporting mechanisms rather than creating new ones.
Commends anti-scam actors
The final clause honors organizations and individuals who combat scams. Ceremonial recognition can raise the profile of existing coalitions and hotlines and can be leveraged by nonprofits and state agencies when applying for grants or forming public-private partnerships tied to the awareness day.
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Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Older adults and other high-risk consumers — the resolution targets outreach and reporting mechanisms to reduce victimization among groups that the bill cites as bearing disproportionate losses.
- Consumer protection organizations and nonprofits — the national day gives them a focal date for campaigns, potential publicity boosts, and a hook for fundraising and partnership activity.
- Law enforcement and inspector general offices — increased public awareness can generate more actionable leads and complaints that these offices can investigate.
- Area agencies on aging and community service providers — the resolution explicitly names them as partners, which can justify local outreach programs and collaborations with financial institutions.
Who Bears the Cost
- Telephone and communications companies — they are called out as vital partners and may face pressure to participate in blocking, labeling, or consumer-education efforts that require operational resources.
- Financial institutions — banks and payments firms may need to expand fraud detection, customer education, or reporting workflows in response to heightened outreach and reporting activity.
- Local aging-service providers and nonprofit outreach organizations — these groups are expected to execute on-the-ground education without the resolution providing funding, creating potential resource strain.
- Federal agencies named as reporting points — agencies such as the FTC and inspector general offices may see increased complaint volumes that require staffing and triage resources to handle effectively.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is symbolic versus substantive action: the resolution aims to harness national attention through a designated day and voluntary coordination, but it stops short of funding, authority, or enforceable obligations—so it can raise awareness without guaranteeing the operational capacity or accountability needed to reduce scams in practice.
The resolution is purely symbolic and does not create enforceable duties, funding streams, or regulatory changes. That means its practical impact depends on whether federal agencies, states, and private partners convert the designation into funded programs or coordinated operational activity.
Without follow-on appropriations or administrative action, the designation risks remaining a publicity exercise with limited measurable effect on scam rates.
The text also pressures nonfederal partners (telecoms, financial institutions, area agencies on aging) to act, but it does not allocate resources or outline accountability mechanisms. Increased reporting encouraged by the resolution could overload already-strained hotlines and inspector general offices unless agencies plan for higher volumes.
Finally, while the resolution emphasizes older adults as high-risk, narrowly targeted messaging can unintentionally stigmatize that population or overlook other at-risk groups; implementing partners will need to balance broad awareness with appropriately tailored, evidence-based interventions.
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