Financial fraud victimizes hundreds of millions of Americans

Financial frauds are at an all-time high, and absent changes in how government agencies and financial institutions address the problem it will only get worse, according to a new report from the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. The report draws on an extensive investigation conducted by committee staffers over the past year, as well as several public hearings with stakeholders.

The report, Fighting back: a policy framework for combatting the rise of financial fraud and scams, was authored by the committee's republican members.

"Financial fraud is one of the fastest-growing threats facing Americans, costing consumers and financial institutions billions of dollars each year," said Representative French Hill, R-Ark., committee chairman. "As fraudsters become more sophisticated, we must ensure that law enforcement, regulators and financial institutions have the tools they need to stay ahead of these evolving needs

"Financial fraud and scams affect everyone. From veterans and small businesses to seniors and young people, everyone is vulnerable," added Representative Dan Meuser, R-Pa., chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which spearheaded the investigation.

Over the past several months, Meuser said, his panel has convened roundtables with stakeholders, including banks, social media firms, telecom companies, the Department of Justice, the FBI, attorneys general, the Federal Reserve, the State Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, to identify problems and determine solutions

1,800 increase in losses over 30 years

Seventy-five percent—hundreds of millions of Americans—have experienced some form of online scam or attack, the report revealed. Citing data reported by the FTC, it notesd that as many as 15 million Americans were victimized in 2025 alone, and those people lost an estimated $15.9 billion. That was a 28 percent increase in losses over 2024, and a whopping 1,800 percent increase in losses over 1997, when the FTC started tracking fraud and scam trends.

But the report stated that the true extent of fraud is greater, as the vast majority of victims do not report the crimes. Factoring in those cases, it estimated that losses in 2025 totaled a staggering $196 billion.

Fraudsters and scammers have also begun exploiting technologies like AI to perpetrate frauds and scams, as well as modern, faster payment systems, such as wire transfer networks and payment apps that allow them to complete their schemes more quickly and remove funds from financial institutions before they can be reclaimed.

What's more, many fraudsters have begun demanding payments in digital assets. The FTC identified $1.78 billion in payments to fraudsters and scammers in the form of digital assets last year.

All hands on deck

Cracking down on these frauds and scams will require an all-of-ecosystem approach that includes a coordinated government response, Meuser said, as well as coordination with foreign governments, payment companies, social media platforms and banks.

The 107-page report describes an "increasingly complex, international shadow industry" located across Southeast Asia, as well as China, where 150 identified scam centers employ as many as 300,000 people—victims of human trafficking that have been lured by promises of good jobs but are instead forced to work for these fraudsters in modern day sweat shops.

"[A]s schemes become more elaborate and are increasingly perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations, our committee and other stakeholders must remain vigilant and address threats as they evolve," Meuser said.

The report includes more than a dozen recommendations for addressing the problem. These include:

• A coordinated interagency federal task force focused on combatting fraud and scams.
• Targeted sanctions against scam operators and their foreign government enablers.
• Harmonizing data collection and reporting, to bring together the more than a dozen unique fraud and scam report centers and streamline intake and investigations.
• Law enforcement agencies that prioritize the prosecution of the criminals behind these frauds and scams and publicizing their successes.
• Getting social media and technology platforms to verify advertisers and promptly investigate and remove ads that are reported to be fraudulent.
• The FCC and FTC should consider requiring companies within their jurisdictions to enhance the monitoring and authentication of these companies with an eye to removing scam messages and the bad actors behind them.
• Congress should remove statutory and regulatory barriers, as appropriate, that prevent financial institutions and other industries from collaboratively combating fraud and scams.

The report emphasizes that acting on those recommendations will become increasingly urgent as fraudsters continue to exploit AI, faster payments and other emerging technologies.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.