Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Strategy for Combating Scams Act of 2025”.
National Strategy for Combating Scams Act of 2025
A BILL
To establish a national strategy for combating scams, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
More than 4 in 10 individuals in the United States, an estimated 141,500,000 adults, say they have lost money to scams or had sensitive information obtained and used fraudulently.
Consumers reported losing more than $12,000,000,000 to fraud in 2024, a 25 percent increase over the prior year, with imposter scams being the most commonly reported scam category.
Criminals are increasingly using Generative Artificial Intelligence to conduct scams, including hyper-realistic voice deepfakes to manipulate victims.
Scams harm all people of the United States, but can particularly affect older adults by harming their mental health and by forcing them to live with fewer resources.
The Government Accountability Office found that there are at least 13 agencies engaged in a range of activities relating to countering scams, all of which have their own mandate and authorities and are largely carrying out their activities independently.
To improve the ability of Federal agencies to coordinate and target efforts to counter scams, the Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Federal Bureau of Investigations lead an effort to develop a National Strategy for Combating Scams.
Sec. 3 National Strategy for Combating Scams
Establishment of working group— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall assemble a working group to develop a National Strategy for Combating Scams, in coordination with the heads of each of the following:
The Federal Trade Commission.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Department of Health and Human Services.
The Department of State.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Federal Reserve Board.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The Department of Homeland Security.
The National Credit Union Administration.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency.
The Office of the United States Attorney.
The United States Secret Service.
The Department of the Treasury.
The Federal Communications Commission.
The Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
The Social Security Administration.
Any other Federal Department or agency, as determined appropriate.
Development of National Strategy for Combating Scams— The working group established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop a National Strategy for Combating Scams that—
incorporates feedback from community stakeholders, including—
survivors of scams, and groups that represent survivors of scams;
older adults and groups that represent older adults;
individuals with disabilities and groups that represent individuals with disabilities;
Federal, State, and local prosecutors and law enforcement officials with expertise in scams, and groups that represent such prosecutors and law enforcement officials;
business and non-profit organizations that play a role in preventing and addressing scams, including telecommunications, financial, social media, retail, and technology companies, and groups that represent such businesses and non-profit organizations;
experts on human behavior and scam prevention;
Adult Protective Services agencies, and groups that represent them;
Area Agencies on Aging, and groups that represent them;
State, local, and Tribal government officials, and groups that represent State and local government officials; and
any other community stakeholders, as determined appropriate by the working group;
establishes a definition of “scam”, for use in the National Strategy and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the establishment of which includes—
an analysis explaining the reasons the working group selected the definition; and
an evaluation of whether agencies other than the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau FBI should adopt the definition, including an analysis of the barriers or unintended consequences of doing so;
evaluates the risks from scams, including an analysis of threats and vulnerabilities, health and financial risks to scam survivors, risks to national and economic security, and the proper Federal response to scams;
evaluates methods for preventing scams, including evidence-based best practices that can be implemented and measured by the Federal Government, State, local, and Tribal governments, businesses, non-profit organizations, community members, and family members of those at risk of being scammed;
defines agency roles, responsibilities, and authorities for preventing and combating scams;
analyzes maintaining a single, government-wide estimate of scams perpetrated and the dollar losses associated with them, including incidents not reported, including either—
a plan for developing and maintaining such an estimate; or
an analysis of the barriers preventing the development of such an estimate and the legislative, regulatory, or administrative changes that could eliminate those barriers;
formulates a plan to—
ensure coordinated, consistent, and accessible consumer complaint reporting for scams across Federal agencies, including complaint reporting that is accessible for individuals with disabilities;
identify duplication in tasks and responsibilities between agencies and establish deconfliction procedures for overlapping jurisdictional authorities to improve coordination and collaboration;
ensure harmonized, adequate, timely, and accurate data collection and data aggregation on scams across Federal agencies, including ways to—
better collect data and encourage reporting on scams;
better identify scams;
consistently collect data on the types of scams, dollar losses from scams, payment methods used for scams, and other data, as appropriate;
promote Federal law enforcement data interoperability and intelligence gathering across data collection platforms; and
modernize law enforcement data and reporting, including through the use of artificial intelligence and other innovative technology to enhance data synthesis;
increase coordination between Federal and private sector efforts, including efforts by businesses and non-profits, to prevent scams by—
facilitating and coordinating the rapid sharing of data by private sector businesses (including technology companies, banks, and telecommunication companies) necessary to the investigation of scams by law enforcement officials;
authenticating legitimate and blocking scam-related transactions and communications; and
coordinating preemptive enforcement and takedown actions;
establish coordinated rapid response protocols that provide individuals with timely, accurate warnings and prevention guidance through trusted channels, ensuring that scam threats are identified quickly and communicated effectively to the public;
increase coordination between Federal, State, local, and Tribal government efforts to prevent and combat scams, including analyzing the feasibility of the creation of elder justice task forces within local governments;
coordinate efforts to address complex and multifaceted scams that cross jurisdictional boundaries; and
monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of strategies recommended in the National Strategy for Combating Scams;
evaluate ways for the Federal Government to partner with State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, telecom carriers, technology companies, and other entities determined appropriate to support victim recovery, including providing clear accessible resources for assistance and redress;
enhance coordination with foreign countries to combat large-scale scams originating abroad that target persons in the United States to improve cross-border enforcement;
analyzes the legislative, regulatory, or administrative changes needed to carry out the National Strategy for Combating Scams and enable a comprehensive and coordinated Federal response to scams;
identifies the resources needed to prevent and combat scams and implement the National Strategy for Combating Scams; and
addresses any other topic relating to the promotion of a coordinated national response to scams, as determined appropriate by the working group.
Submission and publication— Not later than 2 years after the establishment of the working group under subsection (a), the working group shall—
submit the National Strategy for Combating Scams developed under subsection (b) to the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and
make the National Strategy for Combating Scams publicly available, including on a publicly accessible website.
Updates—
In general— Following the publication of the National Strategy for Combating Scams under paragraph (c), not less frequently than once every 5 years, the working group established pursuant to subsection (a) shall update such publication, including by—
collecting and incorporating new feedback from community stakeholders; and
updating the definition of “scam”, as appropriate.
Submission and publication— Not later than 30 days after each update under paragraph (1), the working group established pursuant to subsection (a)shall—
submit the updated National Strategy for Combating Scams to the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and
make the updated National Strategy for Combating Scams publicly available, including on a publicly accessible website.
Sec. 4 Adoption of common definition of “scam”
In general— Not later than 1 year after the publication of the National Strategy for Combating Scams under section 3(c), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall adopt the common definition of “scam” recommended in the National Strategy for Combating Scams.
Updates to definition— If, pursuant to section 3(d), the working group updates the definition of “scam” in an updated National Strategy for Combating Scams, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall adopt the updated common definition of “scam” not later than 1 year after such update.