Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA-27) and Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN-6) have 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 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 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 percent 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