US recovery lags as global cyberscams cost billions
The US government is insufficiently addressing the rise in cyberscams, with collaborations with the private sector characterised by fragmentation and a lack of mandatory participation, according to an investigation into the global scam industry conducted by the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress. The government lacks a coherent accounting of the total funds seized from overseas scam operations, as well as the amount returned to victims, as indicated in the report released on Tuesday by prominent Democrats Senator Maggie Hassan and Representative Don Beyer. A report emphasised the necessity for enhanced collaboration among agencies, increased support for victims, and more profound engagement from the private sector. “Transnational criminal organisations run massive compounds that exploit US 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.”
The report made clear how hard it is for scam victims to get their money back, despite the quickening pace of seizures announced by a variety of US government agencies. The FBI informed the committee that it returned USD 336 million to scam victims in 2025. The Federal Trade Commission reported that it had returned USD 1.83 billion to fraud victims in fiscal year 2025, but was unable to ascertain the extent of losses attributable to overseas scam operations. The US Secret Service returned over 770 million dollars in seized assets to fraud victims during fiscal years 2024 and 2025, highlighting that these funds originated from various fraudulent schemes. The US State Department indicated that foreign law enforcement agencies benefiting from its support had confiscated proceeds “in the low hundreds of millions of dollars.” However, it advised Congress to consult the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury for further specifics. Taken together, that only accounts for a small portion of the total losses experienced by victims. Americans reported cyberfraud losses of nearly 18 billion dollars – that’s more than 2 million dollars an hour – last year to the FBI.
Many individuals do not even report the crime. The report highlighted concerns regarding the expansion of criminal scam networks into additional countries, noting that cutbacks by the US State Department resulted in the elimination of at least one anti-scam program in Bangladesh. This program had been instrumental in training local law enforcement to carry out cyberfraud investigations. Bangladesh has been identified as an emerging center for global scam operations, as indicated by a report released last month by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which received funding from the European Union. The US State Department, which stated it has 60 employees in the US and Asia who dedicate significant time to combating overseas scam compounds, informed the committee that it “has the tools it needs to combat the threat internationally”. The report urged Congress to pass pending legislation that would mandate a unified federal strategy to combat scams and establish a central location for victims to report losses and seek assistance.
The White House has additionally championed enhanced federal coordination. Several Justice Department officials informed Congress that private sector companies ought to prioritise scam prevention; however, US regulators and lawmakers have yet to establish clear incentives for these companies to take such actions. In contrast to the 27-nation EU, as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore, the United States has refrained from imposing potential liability on technology, telecommunications, or financial services companies for inadequate consumer protection against scams. Kate Griffin, a director at the Aspen Institute’s financial security programme, said that there has been important progress, but the US still lacks “durable, sustainable scam prevention”. And “We don’t see that showing up yet in reduced victimisation,” she said. “And that’s what really needs to happen.
