The SWIPES Act amends federal fraud laws to crack down on gift card scams and other access device fraud, particularly targeting schemes that victimize seniors. The bill significantly increases criminal penalties for fraud involving access devices like gift cards, passwords, and digital credentials, with sentences ranging up to 30 years for large-scale operations involving over 1,000 counterfeit or unauthorized devices. The legislation creates a new federal crime specifically for fraud targeting people over 60, adding a mandatory 2-year prison sentence on top of penalties for the underlying fraud offense. The bill expands the definition of what constitutes fraud-related access devices to include modern digital credentials and defines gift cards as prepaid cards or codes that can be used at single or multiple merchants. No specific funding or implementation timeline is provided in the legislation.
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