January 22, 2026
Mr. Harder of California (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To require the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and the Federal Trade Commission to undertake a governmentwide effort to counter scams, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Stop Schemes, Cyberfraud, Abuse, Manipulation, and Swindles Act
or the Stop SCAMS Act
.
Sec. 2. Countering Scams and related activities
(a) In general
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall, in coordination with the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Federal Trade Commission, and the head of any other agency that the Director determines appropriate—
(1)
not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section—
(A)
develop and implement a government-wide strategy to counter scams and coordinate activities across the government relating to countering scams;
(B)
adopt a single definition of scam and various scam types; and
(C)
explore ways to harmonize data collection to better identify scams, including by consistently collecting data on scam type, dollar loss amount, payment method, and other data fields, as determined appropriate by the Director; and
(2)
not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, develop and report a single, governmentwide estimate of—
(A)
the number of consumers affected by scams each year, factoring in an estimate of incidents not reported; and
(B)
the dollar losses resulting from such scams.
(b) Agency requirements
(1) Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Director shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section—
(A)
report an estimate of the number of complaints received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to scams (as defined pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A)) each year and the estimated dollar losses associated with such scams; and
(B)
establish metrics and a plan to measure the effectiveness of anti-scam training offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation through in-person events and webinars.
(2) Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
The Bureau shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section—
(A)
report an estimate of the number of complaints received by the Bureau relating to scams (as defined pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A)) each year and the estimated dollar losses associated with such scams; and
(B)
establish metrics and a plan to measure the effectiveness of anti-scam training offered by the Bureau through in-person events and webinars.
(3) Federal Trade Commission
The Commission shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section—
(A)
report an estimate of the number of complaints received by the Commission relating to scams (as defined pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A)) each year and the estimated dollar losses associated with such scams; and
(B)
establish metrics and a plan to measure the effectiveness of anti-scam training offered by the Commission through in-person events and webinars.
(4) Reporting
The Director, Bureau, and Commission shall make publicly available in any annual report on scams the estimate of the number of complaints received by the Director, Bureau, and Commission, respectively.
(c) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Agency
The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Bureau
The term Bureau means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
(3) Commission
The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.
(4) Director
The term Director means the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.