Stopping Scams Against Consumers: Roadmap for a National Strategy

A discussion paper about how industries could work together and with government to prevent fraud and other harms against consumers and businesses. It is increasingly easy for criminals to scam consumers and businesses. Scammers exploit communications and financial systems using fake texts or social media profiles to fraudulently obtain payments from victims' bank accounts. Yet efforts by firms and law enforcement agencies in the United States remain fragmented and siloed. This paper argues that a coordinated national strategy is necessary to effectively combat this issue. The proposed strategy calls for a broad government mandate, potentially directed at the White House or Congressional level, to facilitate coordination across the banking/financial services, telecommunications, and technology/social media sectors. Drawing on interviews with diverse experts and examples from overseas, the paper outlines the need for a comprehensive approach that focuses on sharing information to better detect and prevent scams that cause economic harm to consumers and businesses. To achieve a national strategy, industry leaders must form a cross-sector campaign using consistent messaging and advocating for strong government leadership. Key elements of the strategy include measures to stop account spoofing and other impersonation scams and establishing standardized mechanisms for educating, warning, and assisting potential or actual victims. 

* Originally published July 17, 2024. This version corrects a previous mischaracterization of wire transfer and payments system practices (risk screening and law enforcement fraud intervention mechanisms) in Section E(10)(e).