Congress Report Exposes Fragmented US Response to $18 Billion Scam Crisis

Key points

• The Joint Economic Committee report, led by Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Don Beyer, finds the US government lacks a unified accounting of seized scam money or victim restitution.
• The FBI returned $336 million to victims in 2025, while the FTC returned $1.83 billion in fiscal 2025, but neither could fully trace funds lost to overseas compounds.
• The Secret Service returned over $770 million in fiscal 2024 and 2025, yet these amounts represent a fraction of the nearly $18 billion in cyberfraud losses reported to the FBI last year.
• State Department cutbacks eliminated an anti-scam training program in Bangladesh, a growing hub for global scam operations, despite claims that current tools are sufficient.
• The report urges Congress to pass pending legislation for a unified federal strategy and a central victim reporting hub, noting the US lacks the liability mandates seen in the EU and UK.

Background

Recent archive coverage highlights the escalating sophistication of fraud, including UK romance fraud losses exceeding 1.3 billion pounds in 2025 and a specific US case involving a fake 49ers player who defrauded over 60 victims. These incidents underscore the broader trend of AI-enabled scams that the current US policy framework struggles to address effectively.

Why it matters

The lack of a coordinated federal response and clear private sector liability means victims remain largely unprotected, allowing transnational criminal organizations to exploit US technology for massive financial gain with minimal accountability.

What to watch

Congress is expected to advance pending legislation that would mandate a unified federal anti-scam strategy and establish a central location for victims to report losses and seek assistance.