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A bipartisan House proposal would make the Federal Trade Commission the hub of a new federal anti-scam task force, bringing banks, fintechs, technology firms and a wide array of government agencies into a coordinated prevention and enforcement framework. The measure advanced even as Democrats warned that an FTC weakened by administrative changes may lack the capacity needed to lead the effort.
House Panel Advances Anti-Scam Bill
By Credit and Collection News Staff
WASHINGTON — A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee has advanced bipartisan legislation that would place the Federal Trade Commission at the center of a governmentwide effort to combat digitally enabled scams, fraud and related financial losses.
The Strategic Task Force on Scam Prevention Act, H.R. 5967, was introduced by Reps. Rob Menendez, D-N.J., and Erin Houchin, R-Ind. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade voted favorably on the measure Sept. 1, clearing it for potential consideration by the full House.
Under the bill, the FTC and Department of Justice would convene a cross-agency task force charged with developing a coordinated national strategy against scam activity. The proposal reflects growing congressional concern that fraud schemes—particularly those enabled by digital payments, social media, artificial intelligence and cross-border criminal networks—are moving faster than the federal government’s fragmented response.
“Fraud has transformed from a nuisance crime into a billion-dollar criminal enterprise,” Houchin said during the markup, citing $15.9 billion in consumer-reported fraud losses during 2025. She argued that the underlying problem is not a lack of federal activity, but the absence of an agency responsible for seeing and coordinating the full picture.
“No single agency is able to see the whole picture,” Houchin said. “No agency has been told to own it, and no one has been tasked with the primary responsibility for it.”
Broad Government, Industry Role
The task force would include the FTC, DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, Federal Communications Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Security Administration, U.S. Postal Service, and the Departments of State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.
For credit, collections and payments professionals, the bill’s emphasis on private-sector participation may be particularly significant. The proposal directs the task force to consult with representatives from banking, cryptocurrency, generative-AI applications, dating platforms, peer-to-peer payment companies, search engines and social-media companies.
Houchin said industry participants often see emerging scam patterns before they reach a federal complaint database.
“These companies see things we don’t,” she said. “They often spot patterns long before those patterns reach a federal database.”
The legislation also calls for the task force to:
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Coordinate with international partners on scams with overseas components.
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Draw on the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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Conduct consumer education and scam-prevention campaigns.
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Use existing enforcement powers more strategically.
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Develop approaches to reduce the systemic risk associated with scam-driven financial losses.
That approach aligns with recommendations from House Financial Services Committee Republicans, whose July report called for a more coordinated federal response, improved fraud-data sharing, a cohesive reporting framework and stronger information-sharing among financial institutions, telecom providers and other industries. The report also backed measures intended to give financial institutions more flexibility to delay transactions when fraud is suspected.
FTC Authority Raises Debate
The bipartisan advancement was not without political tension. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., a senior member of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, said the administration has “systematically undermined” the FTC and Consumer Product Safety Commission—agencies she said are central to protecting consumers from deceptive conduct and scams.
“Consumer protection does not exist without the agencies equipped and ready to enforce,” Clarke said.
Her comments come amid a broader debate over the FTC’s institutional independence, enforcement priorities and resources. The agency has faced constraints on monetary remedies since the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in AMG Capital Management v. FTC, which limited the FTC’s ability to obtain certain forms of consumer redress under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. Congressional Republicans have separately sought public input on potentially restructuring the agency following court decisions and criticism of its previous enforcement agenda.
The disagreement illustrates a practical issue for creditors, debt buyers, collection agencies, payment providers and fintechs: Congress appears increasingly willing to assign the FTC a coordinating role in anti-scam policy, even as lawmakers dispute whether the agency has sufficient authority, stability and resources to execute that mission.
Implications for Collections and Payments
Although the bill does not create new obligations for creditors or debt collectors, it points toward greater federal scrutiny of scam-related payment flows, impersonation fraud and the role of digital platforms in facilitating consumer deception.
For the credit and collections sector, several themes bear watching:
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Information sharing: A coordinated federal strategy could increase pressure for more timely fraud intelligence sharing among banks, payment platforms, telecom companies and law enforcement.
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Payment intervention: Policymakers are focused on tools that allow institutions to identify, pause or investigate suspicious transactions before scam proceeds are irretrievably moved.
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AI-enabled fraud: The bill’s specific inclusion of generative-AI companies signals continued attention to voice cloning, synthetic identities, impersonation and automated social-engineering tactics.
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Consumer communications: Collection organizations should expect a heightened focus on how legitimate businesses distinguish their outreach from scam activity, particularly where consumers receive calls, texts or email notices involving payments.
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Complaint data: Greater use of Consumer Sentinel Network and Internet Crime Complaint Center data may lead to more refined intelligence on scam typologies, payment channels and consumer demographics.
The measure’s progress also comes as lawmakers continue to consider separate anti-robocall legislation. The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, which passed the Senate with unanimous support, would establish an interagency task force involving the FCC, FTC and DOJ to examine unlawful calls originating abroad and develop strategies to reduce them.
For now, H.R. 5967 remains an early-stage legislative proposal. But its bipartisan support—and its effort to make scam prevention a shared responsibility across regulators, law enforcement and industry—suggest that anti-fraud coordination will remain a major policy issue for consumer-finance businesses and their compliance teams.
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