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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3355 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3355
To establish a national strategy for combating scams, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 4, 2025
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Kelly, and Mrs.
Moody) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a national strategy for combating scams, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Strategy for Combating
Scams Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) More than 4 in 10 individuals in the United States, an
estimated 141,500,000 adults, say they have lost money to scams
or had sensitive information obtained and used fraudulently.
(2) Consumers reported losing more than $12,000,000,000 to
fraud in 2024, a 25 percent increase over the prior year, with
imposter scams being the most commonly reported scam category.
(3) Criminals are increasingly using Generative Artificial
Intelligence to conduct scams, including hyper-realistic voice
deepfakes to manipulate victims.
(4) Scams harm all people of the United States, but can
particularly affect older adults by harming their mental health
and by forcing them to live with fewer resources.
(5) The Government Accountability Office found that there
are at least 13 agencies engaged in a range of activities
relating to countering scams, all of which have their own
mandate and authorities and are largely carrying out their
activities independently.
(6) To improve the ability of Federal agencies to
coordinate and target efforts to counter scams, the Government
Accountability Office has recommended that the Federal Bureau
of Investigations lead an effort to develop a National Strategy
for Combating Scams.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COMBATING SCAMS.
(a) Establishment of Working Group.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation shall assemble a working group to develop a National
Strategy for Combating Scams, in coordination with the heads of each of
the following:
(1) The Federal Trade Commission.
(2) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
(3) The Department of Health and Human Services.
(4) The Department of State.
(5) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(6) The Federal Reserve Board.
(7) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
(8) The Department of Homeland Security.
(9) The National Credit Union Administration.
(10) The Office of the Comptroller of Currency.
(11) The Office of the United States Attorney.
(12) The United States Secret Service.
(13) The Department of the Treasury.
(14) The Federal Communications Commission.
(15) The Securities and Exchange Commission.
(16) The Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
(17) The Social Security Administration.
(18) Any other Federal Department or agency, as determined
appropriate.
(b) Development of National Strategy for Combating Scams.--The
working group established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop a
National Strategy for Combating Scams that--
(1) incorporates feedback from community stakeholders,
including--
(A) survivors of scams, and groups that represent
survivors of scams;
(B) older adults and groups that represent older
adults;
(C) individuals with disabilities and groups that
represent individuals with disabilities;
(D) Federal, State, and local prosecutors and law
enforcement officials with expertise in scams, and
groups that represent such prosecutors and law
enforcement officials;
(E) business and non-profit organizations that play
a role in preventing and addressing scams, including
telecommunications, financial, social media, retail,
and technology companies, and groups that represent
such businesses and non-profit organizations;
(F) experts on human behavior and scam prevention;
(G) Adult Protective Services agencies, and groups
that represent them;
(H) Area Agencies on Aging, and groups that
represent them;
(I) State, local, and Tribal government officials,
and groups that represent State and local government
officials; and
(J) any other community stakeholders, as determined
appropriate by the working group;
(2) establishes a definition of ``scam'', for use in the
National Strategy and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, the establishment of which includes--
(A) an analysis explaining the reasons the working
group selected the definition; and
(B) an evaluation of whether agencies other than
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade
Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau FBI should adopt the definition, including an
analysis of the barriers or unintended consequences of
doing so;
(3) evaluates the risks from scams, including an analysis
of threats and vulnerabilities, health and financial risks to
scam survivors, risks to national and economic security, and
the proper Federal response to scams;
(4) evaluates methods for preventing scams, including
evidence-based best practices that can be implemented and
measured by the Federal Government, State, local, and Tribal
governments, businesses, non-profit organizations, community
members, and family members of those at risk of being scammed;
(5) defines agency roles, responsibilities, and authorities
for preventing and combating scams;
(6) analyzes maintaining a single, government-wide estimate
of scams perpetrated and the dollar losses associated with
them, including incidents not reported, including either--
(A) a plan for developing and maintaining such an
estimate; or
(B) an analysis of the barriers preventing the
development of such an estimate and the legislative,
regulatory, or administrative changes that could
eliminate those barriers;
(7) formulates a plan to--
(A) ensure coordinated, consistent, and accessible
consumer complaint reporting for scams across Federal
agencies, including complaint reporting that is
accessible for individuals with disabilities;
(B) identify duplication in tasks and
responsibilities between agencies and establish
deconfliction procedures for overlapping jurisdictional
authorities to improve coordination and collaboration;
(C) ensure harmonized, adequate, timely, and
accurate data collection and data aggregation on scams
across Federal agencies, including ways to--
(i) better collect data and encourage
reporting on scams;
(ii) better identify scams;
(iii) consistently collect data on the
types of scams, dollar losses from scams,
payment methods used for scams, and other data,
as appropriate;
(iv) promote Federal law enforcement data
interoperability and intelligence gathering
across data collection platforms; and
(v) modernize law enforcement data and
reporting, including through the use of
artificial intelligence and other innovative
technology to enhance data synthesis;
(D) increase coordination between Federal and
private sector efforts, including efforts by businesses
and non-profits, to prevent scams by--
(i) facilitating and coordinating the rapid
sharing of data by private sector businesses
(including technology companies, banks, and
telecommunication companies) necessary to the
investigation of scams by law enforcement
officials;
(ii) authenticating legitimate and blocking
scam-related transactions and communications;
and
(iii) coordinating preemptive enforcement
and takedown actions;
(E) establish coordinated rapid response protocols
that provide individuals with timely, accurate warnings
and prevention guidance through trusted channels,
ensuring that scam threats are identified quickly and
communicated effectively to the public;
(F) increase coordination between Federal, State,
local, and Tribal government efforts to prevent and
combat scams, including analyzing the feasibility of
the creation of elder justice task forces within local
governments;
(G) coordinate efforts to address complex and
multifaceted scams that cross jurisdictional
boundaries; and
(H) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the
implementation of strategies recommended in the
National Strategy for Combating Scams;
(8) evaluate ways for the Federal Government to partner
with State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies,
financial institutions, telecom carriers, technology companies,
and other entities determined appropriate to support victim
recovery, including providing clear accessible resources for
assistance and redress;
(9) enhance coordination with foreign countries to combat
large-scale scams originating abroad that target persons in the
United States to improve cross-border enforcement;
(10) analyzes the legislative, regulatory, or
administrative changes needed to carry out the National
Strategy for Combating Scams and enable a comprehensive and
coordinated Federal response to scams;
(11) identifies the resources needed to prevent and combat
scams and implement the National Strategy for Combating Scams;
and
(12) addresses any other topic relating to the promotion of
a coordinated national response to scams, as determined
appropriate by the working group.
(c) Submission and Publication.--Not later than 2 years after the
establishment of the working group under subsection (a), the working
group shall--
(1) submit the National Strategy for Combating Scams
developed under subsection (b) to the Special Committee on
Aging of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) make the National Strategy for Combating Scams publicly
available, including on a publicly accessible website.
(d) Updates.--
(1) In general.--Following the publication of the National
Strategy for Combating Scams under paragraph (c), not less
frequently than once every 5 years, the working group
established pursuant to subsection (a) shall update such
publication, including by--
(A) collecting and incorporating new feedback from
community stakeholders; and
(B) updating the definition of ``scam'', as
appropriate.
(2) Submission and publication.--Not later than 30 days
after each update under paragraph (1), the working group
established pursuant to subsection (a)shall--
(A) submit the updated National Strategy for
Combating Scams to the Special Committee on Aging of
the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) make the updated National Strategy for
Combating Scams publicly available, including on a
publicly accessible website.
SEC. 4. ADOPTION OF COMMON DEFINITION OF ``SCAM''.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the publication of the
National Strategy for Combating Scams under section 3(c), the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau shall adopt the common definition of
``scam'' recommended in the National Strategy for Combating Scams.
(b) Updates to Definition.--If, pursuant to section 3(d), the
working group updates the definition of ``scam'' in an updated National
Strategy for Combating Scams, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
shall adopt the updated common definition of ``scam'' not later than 1
year after such update.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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