Fraud Prevention

Every day, criminals impersonate financial institutions via fake calls, texts, and emails to scam Americans out of an estimated $68 billion per year, though the true toll could be closer to $200 billion due to widespread underreporting.^[1] Check fraud remains prevalent, but other payment rails are also targeted. Criminals increasingly combine psychological manipulation and social engineering with spoofed caller IDs, social media impersonation, and stolen personal information to target consumers.

Banks are investing billions in fraud prevention tools, such as chip cards, AI-powered fraud detection systems, and multi-factor authentication, but scammers continue to adapt, posing a serious threat to consumers and the broader economy. With consumer fraud losses up more than 33% from 2023 to 2024, it’s clear that banks can’t win the fight against fraud alone.

Others are beginning to step up. In November 2025, the Justice Department launched an interagency Scam Center Strike Force to crack down on scam centers in Southeast Asia that defraud millions of Americans every year. And, in March 2026, Senators Moreno and Gallego and Representatives Meuser and Correa introduced S.3774 and H.R.7548, the Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct (SCAM) Act, to crack down on criminals who run deceptive advertisements on social media platforms. While these are meaningful and effective steps forward in the fight against fraud, there is more that Congress, government agencies, telecommunication companies, social media, tech companies, and other stakeholders can do alongside banks to develop a national strategy to stop criminals and protect consumers.

To win this fight, we need to treat the fraud threat like the national emergency it is. There are several meritorious proposals to combat fraud, but policymakers should prioritize the following initiatives:

• Enact the SCAM Act. Congress should pass the SCAM Act, which would require social media companies to verify advertisers’ identities, implement systems to detect fraudulent advertisements, and investigate and remove fake ads.
• National Coordination and Strategy. Establish a White House Office of Fraud and Scam Prevention and cross-agency working groups—composed of banks, regulatory and enforcement agencies, and industry stakeholders—to develop a national strategy to prevent scams and fraud.
• Regulation and Industry Accountability. Develop clear and consistent fraud-related regulations. Through FCC rules, require all telecommunications companies to block fake caller IDs and fake bank text messages and, through FTC rules, require social media companies to take down impersonation accounts.
• Coordination with Law Enforcement. Congress should establish a dedicated grant program for state and local law enforcement agencies to combat financial crimes and respond to scams. Such funding would enable jurisdictions to establish Financial Crimes Intelligence Centers. Ground-level, state and local approaches that are rooted in community relationships and operational agility are often more effective at identifying and disrupting emerging crime trends than relying solely on federal interdictions.

Fraud is a threat to all Americans, and without a “whole of government” approach that includes all stakeholders, consumers will continue to be scammed out of their hard-earned money. Congress, government agencies, telecommunication, social media, and tech companies, and their regulators have a major opportunity to partner with banks to develop and execute strategies to protect Americans by stopping fraud and strengthening scam prevention. While we work towards our goal of winning the fight against fraud, learn how to spot and stop scams by checking out BanksNeverAskThat.com and PracticeSafeChecks.com.