Chairman Meuser Releases Staff Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Report on Fraud and Scams, Holds Fireside Chat with Chairman Hill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, released a final staff report on financial fraud and scams facing the American public. The report, entitled Fighting Back: A Policy Framework for Combating the Rise of Financial Fraud & Scams, represents the culmination of an exhaustive investigation into the growing threat of financial fraud, convening roundtables with banks, social media firms, telecom companies, the DOJ, FBI, Attorneys General, the Fed, and other federal agencies to discuss the scope of the problem and identify policy solutions to address scams.

The report outlines the findings of this yearlong investigation, identifies the biggest threats to consumers, highlights emerging strategies and technologies fraudsters are using, and provides recommendations to strengthen protections by improving coordination between law enforcement, regulators, and the private sector.

"Financial fraud and scams affect everyone. From veterans and small businesses to seniors and young people, everyone is vulnerable to financial fraud and scams," said Subcommittee Chair Meuser. "As Chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I've made it a top priority to address the threat of financial fraud and scams and provide the public the tools they need to secure their finances. However, as 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. Over the past several months, I have convened roundtables with stakeholders, including banks, social media firms, telecom companies, the DOJ, FBI, Attorneys General, the Fed, State Department, FTC, and FCC to identify problems and determine solutions. This report highlights the need for an all-of-ecosystem approach to include a coordinated government response. I want to thank Chairman Hill for letting the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee spearhead this Committee-wide initiative and look forward to advocating for implementation of the report's recommendations."

"Financial fraud is one of the fastest-growing threats facing Americans, costing consumers and financial institutions billions of dollars each year," said Financial Services Committee Chairman Hill. "As fraudsters become more sophisticated, we must ensure law enforcement, regulators, and financial institutions have the tools they need to stay ahead of these evolving threats. I thank Subcommittee Chairman Meuser for his leadership on this issue and his work to develop a framework that strengthens fraud prevention, improves coordination among law enforcement, regulators, and the private sector, and better protects Americans' hard-earned money."

Following the release of the report, Chairman Meuser and Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) held a Fireside chat detailing the Subcommittee's findings and recommendations for combating the rise of financial fraud and scams. The fireside chat was moderated by Leigh Ann Caldwell of Puck News. Watch the fireside chat here.

Background:

The Scale of the Threat

Financial fraud is now the largest category of property crime in America by dollar value. In 2025, Americans reported nearly $15.9 billion in losses to fraud and scams - and because most victims never come forward, the true cost is estimated at roughly $196 billion. An estimated 15 million Americans were scammed last year alone, a 24% increase over 2024. The harm reaches every generation: losses among seniors have quadrupled since 2020, from $600 million to $2.4 billion, with the average senior victim losing roughly $83,000 - yet younger Americans are twice as likely to be scammed as the elderly.

A Year-Long Investigation

This report is the culmination of a year-long inquiry led by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The Committee convened four hearings across its subcommittees and three roundtables - bringing industry, law enforcement, and financial regulators to the same table - to examine how modern scams operate and what it will take to stop them. The same priorities surfaced again and again: stronger consumer education, deliberate friction to slow suspicious transactions, greater cross-industry data sharing, more aggressive prosecution, and a coordinated, cross-agency response.

A Whole-of-Ecosystem Response

The report documents a fight now underway on every front. Across the private sector, banks, payment networks, social media platforms, and telecom carriers are deploying new detection tools, filtering billions of scam calls and texts, dismantling fraudulent networks, and expanding financial-literacy campaigns. Federal regulators like Secretary Bessent, Vice Chair Bowman, Chairman Ferguson of the FTC, and Chairman Carr of the FCC are answering with sanctions and financial monitoring, reforms to modernize outdated payment rules, oversea call screening, and simpler ways for victims to report. In coordination with international partners, U.S. authorities have disrupted overseas scam compounds and secured arrests abroad.

The Trump Administration has mobilized the federal government behind the effort. A series of executive orders has moved to close information silos, screen federal payments for fraud, modernize outdated payment systems, and directly target the transnational criminal organizations behind these schemes. Vice President J.D. Vance chairs the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government initiative to root out fraud across federal benefit programs. And the Department of Justice's Scam Center Strike Force, led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, has carried the fight overseas - dismantling Southeast Asian scam operations and recovering more than $800 million in stolen funds for victims.

Yet despite this progress, the threat keeps growing - the central reason the report calls for a unified, all-of-ecosystem strategy that brings these efforts together.

View the full text of the report here.