Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Don Beyer are calling for a coordinated federal response to international cyberfraud after Americans reported nearly $18 billion in losses in 2025.
The lawmakers released the findings Tuesday as ranking Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. The report says federal agencies do not have a unified system to track money seized from overseas scam operations or determine how much is ultimately returned to victims.
It recommends a national strategy to address international scam networks, improve assistance for victims and strengthen cooperation among federal agencies and private companies. The report also calls for Congress to establish a centralized system for reporting scams and for technology, telecommunications and financial services companies to face greater accountability.
“Transnational criminal organizations run massive compounds that exploit U.S. technology, including AI, to carry out scams against Americans with devastating consequences,” Hassan said in an email. “The scale of this exponentially growing challenge requires Congress, the Administration, and the private sector to all strengthen their efforts.”
Recovery efforts remain divided
Federal agencies reported returning or recovering substantial sums, but the figures cover different types of fraud and are not assembled through one accounting system. The Federal Bureau of Investigation told the committee it returned $336 million to scam victims in 2025.
- The Federal Trade Commission reported returning $1.83 billion to fraud victims during fiscal year 2025.
- The FTC could not determine how much of that amount came from overseas scam compounds.
- The U.S. Secret Service returned more than $770 million in seized assets during fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
The Secret Service said the money it returned came from a range of fraud schemes, rather than only international cyberfraud. The State Department told the committee that foreign law enforcement agencies receiving U.S. support had seized proceeds in the low hundreds of millions of dollars. It directed lawmakers to the Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury departments for additional details.
The report says those recovery figures represent only a fraction of the losses reported by Americans. It draws on a yearlong investigation by The Associated Press and FRONTLINE into the global scam industry, which has increasingly used digital technology and artificial intelligence to target people in the United States.
Calls for broader cooperation
The lawmakers said federal agencies need a shared approach for tracing seized funds and returning them to victims. They also urged Congress to improve coordination with technology, telecommunications and financial companies whose systems can be used in scams or money transfers.
The report raised concerns about the elimination of a U.S.-funded anti-scam program in Bangladesh that trained local law enforcement officers in cybercrime investigations. It said international cooperation remains part of the response because many scam operations are based outside the United States.
Kate Griffin of the Aspen Institute said progress had been made but that continued preventive efforts were needed to reduce victimization. The committee’s recommendations include a central reporting system for victims, a unified federal strategy and stronger requirements for companies involved in communications, technology and financial services.
