HR4936-119

What This Bill Does

The TRAPS Act establishes a Treasury-chaired Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams within 90 days of enactment. The task force includes federal regulators and enforcement agencies such as the CFPB, FCC, FTC, DOJ, OCC, Federal Reserve, NCUA, FDIC, and FinCEN, plus representatives from financial institutions, credit unions, digital payment networks, community banks, consumer groups, technology or online platform associations, scam victims, scam support networks, and other stakeholders. The task force must examine scam trends, spoofed calls, scam texts, malicious ads and websites, payment-platform scams, business email compromise, consumer education, law-enforcement coordination, international approaches, and whether additional legislation would help. It must meet at least three times in the first year and publish a report to Congress within one year with recommendations for detection, prevention, investigation, prosecution, data collection, and intergovernmental cooperation.

Who Benefits and How

Payment scam victims benefit because the task force must include victim-support perspectives and recommend ways to identify, prevent, and prosecute scams. Consumer groups benefit from a formal seat in federal payment-scam policy discussions. Financial institution representatives benefit by shaping recommendations around payment-platform fraud, business email compromise, and industry prevention practices. Digital payment network representatives benefit by helping align technology-platform responsibilities with law-enforcement and consumer-protection strategies.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Treasury task force staff must organize the task force, fill vacancies, hold meetings, and produce the public report. Federal financial regulators must devote representatives and expertise to cross-sector scam-prevention recommendations. Technology platform associations must participate in scrutiny of malicious ads, pop-ups, websites, and scam tactics. Law enforcement agencies must coordinate on recommendations for identifying and pursuing payment-scam perpetrators.

Key Provisions

• Establishes a Treasury-chaired Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams within 90 days.
• Requires representation from federal regulators, financial institutions, credit unions, payment networks, community banks, consumer groups, technology platforms, and scam victims.
• Directs the task force to evaluate spoofed calls, scam texts, malicious ads, websites, payment-platform scams, and business email compromise.
• Requires at least three meetings in the first year and a public report to Congress within one year.