Congress·In Committee·S. 2019

Congress Proposes New Federal Task Force to Protect Americans from Digital Payment Scams

TRAPS Act

10 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Part of: U.S. Lawmakers Propose Unified Federal Strategy to Combat Digital Payment Scams

⏸

Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

Congress is considering a plan to create a special team called the Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams. This group would bring together experts from the Treasury, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission to find better ways to stop criminals from stealing money through apps and online transfers.
The task force will look at common tricks used by scammers, such as fake phone calls, text messages, and misleading online ads. They will also study how other countries are successfully stopping these crimes and look for ways to help law enforcement catch the people responsible for stealing from Americans.
A major goal of the group is to create better education programs so regular people can spot and report scams before they lose money. The team will include representatives from banks, tech companies, and consumer groups, as well as people who have actually been victims of these scams to ensure the solutions work for real families.
Within one year of starting, the group must release a public report with recommendations for new laws or rules to make digital payments safer. This is meant to address the growing problem of high-tech fraud that costs people and companies billions of dollars every year.

Economy FinanceTechnology DigitalCriminal Justice

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Broader Impacts

DomainScoreShort-termLong-termReversibilityConfidence

Score

Scores: -5 (harmful) to +5 (beneficial)Short-term: 0-2 yearsLong-term: 10-30 years

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 10, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Jun 10, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Related News

3 articles

PaymentExpert·9 months ago

US senators introduce bill to tackle rising payment scams

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced the TRAPS Act to create a federal task force coordinating regulators, law enforcement, and the payments industry to combat fraud losses, which reached $12.5 billion in 2023.

Credit Union Times·8 months ago

Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan TRAPS Act to Combat Payment Scams Targeting Seniors, Military Families

Reps. Zach Nunn and Jim Himes introduced the House version of the TRAPS Act, which would establish a Treasury-led task force to identify fraud trends and coordinate prevention strategies for vulnerable groups like seniors and military families.

CL=

KJAN·8 months ago

Nunn Introduces Bipartisan TRAPS Act to Combat Payment Scams and Protect Seniors

Rep. Zach Nunn introduced the TRAPS Act to address the $52 million lost by Iowans to scams last year. The bill creates a unified federal strategy to disrupt sophisticated schemes like romance and investment scams before they occur.