Reps. George Whitesides, Jefferson Shreve Introduce Legislation to Crack Down on Fraud and Scams

This bill would create a first of its kind agency to address the rising threat of fraud and scams

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA-27) and Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN-6) introduced the National Scam Prevention Coordination Act, legislation that would establish an office in the White House to oversee and coordinate the implementation of a national strategy for fraud and scam prevention. Rep. Jefferson Shreve is the chair of the bipartisan Stop Scams Caucus, of which Rep. Whitesides is a member, where they work to protect Americans from financial fraud, cyber scams, and cross-border criminal networks.

"Tens of thousands of Americans are scammed every day, and bad actors are only getting more sophisticated," said Rep. Whitesides. "We are in desperate need of a central hub to ensure law enforcement can take down these criminal enterprises and victims can get the answers they deserve."

"Law enforcement leaders all tell me the same thing: They don't have the tools or direction to tackle the surge in scams," said Rep. Shreve. "Creating a dedicated White House office will cut through the bureaucracy, coordinate investigations, and put scam prevention where it belongs - as a national priority. This is a real problem, and it's one we can fix."

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center's (IC3) 2024 Internet Crime Report, American consumers reported $16.6 billion in losses to scams in 2024. Fraud and scams are underreported, with the Federal Trade Commission estimating that the true total of consumer fraud-related losses reached $195.9 billion in 2024 alone, a 24% increase from 2023. Currently, no individual federal agency has the ability to fully address the rising threat of fraud and scams.

The National Scam Prevention Coordination Act would:

• Establish a National Fraud and Scam Prevention office in the White House.
• Designate responsibilities for the National Fraud and Scam Prevention Office Director, including:
• Serving as the principal advisor to the President on scam and fraud prevention policy and strategy.
• Coordinating the implementation of national fraud and scam prevention policy and strategy with federal agencies.
• Annually reporting to the President and Congress on the effectiveness of national fraud and scam prevention policy and the status of implementation.
• Establish a program providing liability safe-harbor for those who share non-personally identifiable information in good faith with the Office to enable increased public-private collaboration.

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