House Financial Services Committee Republicans are pressing for a whole-of-government overhaul of how the federal government fights financial fraud, releasing a 107-page staff report this week that calls for interagency task forces, sanctions against foreign scam operators, and the removal of regulatory barriers that keep financial institutions from sharing fraud intelligence with one another.
The report, “Fighting Back: A Policy Framework for Combating the Rise of Financial Fraud & Scams,” was issued by Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill [R-Ark.] and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dan Meuser [R-Penn.]. It caps a year-long investigation that included roundtables with banks, social media firms, telecom companies, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission.
The scale of the problem, by the committee’s accounting, is staggering. The FTC received more than 3 million fraud reports in 2025 and tallied $15.9 billion in reported losses, a 28% jump from 2024 and the highest figure ever recorded. Because most victims never report, the committee estimates the true annual loss is closer to $196 billion. An estimated 15 million Americans were victimized in 2025 alone, with fraud increasingly perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations operating from scam centers in Southeast Asia, some with ties to China, Russia, and North Korea.
For financial institutions and the companies that work with them, the report’s recommendations carry significant regulatory implications. The committee urges Congress and federal financial regulators to remove statutory and regulatory barriers that prevent institutions from collaborating on fraud detection, pointing to FinCEN guidance issued in June 2026 clarifying that covered institutions can share information related to certain fraud crimes. It calls on the FCC and FTC to issue similar guidance for the industries they oversee.
The report also endorses specific legislation, including the STOP Payments Fraud Act, which would amend the Expedited Funds Availability Act to let institutions slow the availability of funds when fraud is suspected, and the Bank Fraud Technology Advancement Act, which would create a pilot program giving community financial institutions access to emerging fraud-prevention technology. A third bill, the GUARD Act, would open federal grant funding to state and local law enforcement for fraud investigations.
Other findings will sound familiar to anyone who fields consumer complaints. The committee counted no fewer than a dozen federal agencies and portals that accept fraud reports, each with its own jurisdiction and intake process, and found that the lack of a uniform definition distinguishing unauthorized “fraud” from authorized “scams” muddies reporting, liability determinations, and loss quantification.
“Financial fraud is one of the fastest-growing threats facing Americans,” Hill said in announcing the report. Meuser, who led the investigation, said the findings demonstrate the need for “an all-of-ecosystem approach” that includes a coordinated government response.
