[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2019 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2019
To establish a Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 10, 2025
Mr. Crapo (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Warnock)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Taskforce for Recognizing and
Averting Payment Scams Act'' or the ``TRAPS Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Payment.--The term ``payment'' means any mechanism
through which an individual can electronically transfer funds
to another individual via a platform or intermediary.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Treasury.
(3) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the Task
Force on Payment Scams established under section 3(a).
SEC. 3. TASK FORCE ON PAYMENT SCAMS.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a task force, to
be known as the Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams.
(b) Membership.--
(1) Composition.--The Task Force shall be chaired by the
Secretary or a designee thereof, and shall consist of
representatives from the following:
(A) The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
(B) The Federal Communications Commission.
(C) The Federal Trade Commission.
(D) The Department of Justice.
(E) The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
(F) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System.
(G) The National Credit Union Administration.
(H) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(I) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
(J) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from a financial
institution with expertise in identifying, preventing,
and combating payment scams.
(K) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from a credit union
with expertise in identifying, preventing, and
combating payment scams.
(L) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from a digital
payment network with expertise in identifying,
preventing, and combating payment scams.
(M) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from a community
bank.
(N) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from a consumer
group.
(O) A representative, appointed by the Secretary in
consultation with the Task Force, from an industry
association representing technology or online
platforms.
(P) Not more than 5 representatives appointed by
the Secretary to represent victims, scam support
networks, and other relevant stakeholders in order to
better assist consumers and stakeholders.
(2) Term of appointment.--The term of a member of the Task
Force shall continue until the termination of the Task Force.
(3) Vacancy.--Any vacancy occurring in the membership of
the Task Force shall be filled in the same manner in which the
original appointment was made.
(c) Purpose.--The Task Force shall--
(1) examine current trends and developments in payment
scams, identify effective methods for preventing such scams,
and issue recommendations to enhance efforts to identify and
prevent such activities;
(2) adopt a cross-sector approach to ensure its
recommendations reflect the full scope of the issue, given that
scams impact individuals across a wide range of industries,
including financial services, telecommunications, and
technology; and
(3) include representation from stakeholders with direct
experience supporting victims of scams, as well as industry
participants with insight into scam tactics and prevention
strategies.
(d) Meetings.--The Task Force shall meet not less than 3 times
during the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this
Act, and thereafter at such times and places, and by such means, as the
Chair of the Task Force determines to be appropriate, which may include
the use of remote conference technology.
(e) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include--
(1) evaluating best practices for combating methods used by
scammers, including spoofed calls, scam text messages, and
malicious advertisements, pop-ups, and websites;
(2) assessing how international jurisdictions have tried to
prevent payment scams;
(3) identifying and reviewing current methods used to scam
a consumer through payment platforms;
(4) determining a strategy for education programs that
better equip consumers to identify, avoid, and report payment
scam attempts to the appropriate authorities;
(5) coordinating efforts to ensure perpetrators of payment
scams can be identified and pursued by law enforcement;
(6) consulting with other relevant stakeholders, including
State, local, and Tribal agencies and financial services
providers;
(7) determining whether any additional Federal legislation
would be beneficial for law enforcement and industry in
mitigating payment scams; and
(8) identifying potential solutions to payment scams
involving business email compromise.
(f) Compensation.--Each member of the Task Force who is a civilian
or employee of the United States shall serve without compensation,
other than compensation to which entitled as an employee of the United
States, as the case may be.
(g) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on
which the Secretary establishes the Task Force, the Task Force
shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives and make publicly available
online a report detailing--
(A) the results of the reviews and evaluations of
the Task Force under subsection (e);
(B) the strategy identified under subsection (e);
(C) any legislative or regulatory recommendations
that would enhance the ability to detect and prevent
payment scams described in subsection (e); and
(D) recommendations to enhance cooperation among
Federal, State, local, and Tribal authorities in the
investigation and prosecution of scams and other
financial crimes, including harmonizing data
collection, improving reporting mechanisms and streams,
estimating the number of complaints and consumers
affected, and evaluating the effectiveness of anti-scam
training programs.
(2) Annual updates.--After submitting an initial report
required under paragraph (1), the Task Force shall, on an
annual basis, submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial
Services of the House of Representatives and make publicly
available online an updated version of the report.
(h) Applicable Law.--Chapter 4 of title 5, United States Code,
shall not apply to the Task Force.
(i) Sunset.--The Task Force shall terminate on the date that is 3
years after the date on which the Task Force submits the report
required under subsection (h)(1).
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