U.S. House Committee on Financial Services releases staff report setting out a policy framework to combat financial fraud and scams

The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services has released a staff report, “Fighting Back: A Policy Framework for Combating the Rise of Financial Fraud & Scams,” following a yearlong Republican committee investigation into fraud and scams targeting U.S. consumers. The report is presented as a policy framework that assesses the scale of the problem, reviews emerging fraud trends and recommends steps to strengthen consumer protections, improve coordination among law enforcement and regulators, and give financial institutions better tools to detect and prevent fraud. The release frames financial fraud as a fast-growing threat that imposes billions of dollars in losses on consumers and financial institutions and describes schemes as becoming more sophisticated, including through transnational criminal organizations. It also reflects work led by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, including stakeholder roundtables involving banks, social media firms, telecom companies and public sector bodies such as the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, state attorneys general, the Federal Reserve, State Department, Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission, with the report emphasizing an ecosystem-wide and coordinated government response. Subcommittee Chairman Dan Meuser said he intends to advocate for implementation of the report’s recommendations.