A group of more than 20 legislators, including California Ninth District Congressman Josh Harder, have called on congressional leadership in the House and Senate to address financial fraud and scams, which have been skyrocketing since 2021. A new Federal Trade Commission report shows that in 2023, fraud cost Americans more than $10 billion – a nearly 300 percent increase over 2020 when scams and fraud cost Americans $3.5 billion. The losses for 2023 broke 2022’s record of $8.8 billion. The true numbers are likely much higher because victims of scams often feel too embarrassed or ashamed to file reports. The most common and costly form of financial fraud is imposter scams where criminals pretend to be government agencies or well-known companies. These scams are also becoming more difficult to detect thanks to AI and other technology.

In a bipartisan letter to Senate Leader Schumer, Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Leader McConnell, and House Minority Leader Jeffries, Rep. Harder and his colleagues called out these disturbing trends and pushed for new anti-fraud efforts across agencies and support for innovative technology solutions to prevent financial fraud.

In the letter, the coalition of legislators call for a whole-of-society effort to address fraud and specifically:

Encourage information sharing between government and private sector participants.

Develop best practices for relevant stakeholders to counter the increasing threats of financial fraud.

Encourage innovations in counter-fraud technologies, data analytics, and approaches.

“Criminals are getting better and more advanced at weaponizing AI and other high-tech tools to steal our hard-earned money. We need better anti-fraud tools so we can keep up with scammers and protect hard-working families,” said Harder. “Last year, Americans lost over $10 billion to fraud. That’s almost 300 percent more than 2020. We need 21st-century solutions to stop these career criminals and scammers.”