I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1188
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 24, 2023
Mr. Lynch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a task force to protect members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families, from financial fraud.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Military Consumer Protection Task Force Act of 2023
.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
Members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families continue to be disproportionately targeted and impacted by imposter scams, investment-related schemes, fake check scams, veterans’ charity scams, pension poaching, and other methods of financial fraud.
Financial fraud attacks targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military dependents increased by 69 percent from 2020 to 2021.
In 2020, more than 56,000 military consumers submitted fraud reports to the Federal Trade Commission indicating a collective fraud loss of approximately $102 million; in 2021, over 110,000 military consumers submitted fraud reports to the Federal Trade Commission indicating a collective fraud loss of approximately $267 million, a 162-percent increase in fraud loss over 2020.
Veterans alone reported a collective fraud loss of $177 million in 2021, with members of the Armed Forces reporting a nearly $60 million total fraud loss in 2021.
The exponential increase in financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families demands a robust and coordinated interagency approach that examines current and emerging fraudulent schemes to safeguard the financial security of our military consumers.
Interagency task force to protect members, veterans, and military families from financial fraud
Establishment
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall establish an Interagency Task Force on Financial Fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces and veterans (referred to in this section as the Task Force
).
Membership
The Task Force established under this section shall include representatives from the following:
The Department of Defense.
The Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Federal Trade Commission.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Department of Justice.
The Federal Communications Commission.
The Postal Inspection Service.
Three representatives, appointed by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, of non-governmental organizations (at least one of whom is a representative of a veterans’ service organization) with expertise in identifying, preventing, and combatting financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Consultation
The Task Force shall regularly consult with the following:
Members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and members of military families that have been victims of financial fraud.
Relevant Federal agencies and departments that are not represented on the Task Force.
Other relevant public and private sector stakeholders, including State and local law enforcement agencies, financial services providers, technology companies, and social media platforms.
Meetings
The Task Force shall not meet less frequently than three times per calendar year.
Purpose
The purpose of the Task Force is to identify and examine current and developing methods of financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families and issue recommendations to enhance efforts undertaken by Federal agencies to identify, prevent, and combat such financial fraud.
Duties
The duties of the Task Force shall include the following:
Collecting and reviewing robust data pertaining to medical billing, credit reporting, debt collection, and other serious financial challenges facing members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Identifying and reviewing current methods of financial exploitation targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families, including—
imposter or phishing scams;
investment-related fraud;
pension poaching;
veterans benefit fraud;
fraudulent offers pertaining to employment or business opportunities;
predatory lending;
veteran charity schemes;
foreign money offers and fake check scams;
mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management fraud;
military allotment system abuse; and
military records fraud.
Identifying and evaluating the new financial risks that emerging financial technologies, including buy-now-pay-later credit and digital payment ecosystems, may present to members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Evaluating the efficacy of current Federal programs, educational campaigns, policies, and statutes, including the Military Lending Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, in preventing and combatting financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Developing recommendations to enhance efforts of Federal agencies to detect, prevent, and combat financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Report
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on its findings to date and recommendations to enhance the efforts of Federal agencies to identify, prevent, and combat financial fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
Appropriate congressional committees defined
In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees
means the following:
The Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives.
The Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives.
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate.
