National Strategy for Combating Scams

Summary#

This bill requires the FBI to form a working group of many federal agencies to develop a National Strategy for Combating Scams. The working group must be assembled within 90 days of enactment and must deliver the strategy within one year after it is formed. The strategy must:

  • include feedback from many community stakeholders (for example, scam survivors, older adults, people with disabilities, prosecutors and law enforcement, businesses and technology companies, and others);
  • establish a common definition of “scam” and explain why the definition was chosen;
  • evaluate scam risks, health and financial harms, and national or economic security effects;
  • identify methods for preventing scams and how to measure those methods;
  • define agency roles and analyze duplication and coordination needs across agencies;
  • consider creating a single government-wide estimate of scam incidents and dollar losses or explain barriers to doing so;
  • plan for coordinated complaint reporting, better data collection and aggregation, private-sector data sharing with law enforcement, rapid public warnings, and cross-jurisdiction and international cooperation;
  • identify legislative, regulatory, or administrative changes and the resources needed to implement the strategy.

The strategy must be submitted to specified congressional committees and posted on a public website. The working group must update the strategy at least once every 5 years and the FBI, FTC, and CFPB must adopt the strategy's recommended common definition of “scam” within one year of publication (and adopt any future updates within one year).

What it means for you#

If enacted, this law would create a formal interagency process led by the FBI to study scams and recommend coordinated actions. Agencies would collect and share more consistent data on types of scams, dollar losses, and payment methods, and publish a common definition of “scam.” The public would get a published national strategy and periodic updates on a public website. The working group must include community stakeholders and consider ways to improve complaint reporting and victim assistance.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated costs or budget impacts is included in the text. The bill requires the working group to identify the resources needed to prevent and combat scams and to implement the strategy.

Proponents' View#

The bill's findings state that many adults report losing money or having sensitive information misused, citing an estimate that more than 4 in 10 adults have experienced scams and that consumers reported over $12,000,000,000 lost to fraud in 2024. The findings also note increased use of generative AI and deepfakes in scams and particular harms to older adults. The Government Accountability Office recommended an FBI-led national strategy; the bill follows that recommendation.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opposing views is included in the bill text or metadata.