H.R. 5683

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5683 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5683

To establish a task force to protect members of the Armed Forces, 
veterans, and military families, from financial fraud.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 3, 2025

Mr. Lynch (for himself, Ms. McBride, Mr. Gottheimer, and Ms. Tlaib) 
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.

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 ``Military Consumer Protection Task 
Force Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) 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.
(2) In 2023, financial fraud targeting military consumers 
resulted in an estimated $477,000,000 in total losses, an 
increase of approximately $63,000,000 over 2022.
(3) In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received more 
than 74,000 fraud complaints from veterans and military 
retirees that resulted in approximately $350,000,000 in total 
losses.
(4) In 2024, financial fraud targeting military consumers 
resulted in an estimated $584,000,000 in total losses, an 
increase of approximately $107,000,000 over 2023.
(5) In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission received nearly 
80,000 fraud complaints from veterans and military retirees 
that resulted in approximately $419,000,000 in total losses.
(6) 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.

SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO PROTECT MEMBERS, VETERANS, AND 
MILITARY FAMILIES FROM FINANCIAL FRAUD.

(a) 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'').
(b) Membership.--The Task Force established under this section 
shall include representatives from the following:
(1) The Department of Defense.
(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs.
(3) The Federal Trade Commission.
(4) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
(5) The Department of Justice.
(6) The Federal Communications Commission.
(7) The Postal Inspection Service.
(8) 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.
(c) Consultation.--The Task Force shall regularly consult with the 
following:
(1) Members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and members of 
military families that have been victims of financial fraud.
(2) Relevant Federal agencies and departments that are not 
represented on the Task Force.
(3) Other relevant public and private sector stakeholders, 
including State and local law enforcement agencies, financial 
services providers, technology companies, and social media 
platforms.
(d) Meetings.--The Task Force shall not meet less frequently than 
three times per calendar year.
(e) 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.
(f) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include the 
following:
(1) 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.
(2) Identifying and reviewing current methods of financial 
exploitation targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, 
and military families, including--
(A) imposter or phishing scams;
(B) investment-related fraud;
(C) pension poaching;
(D) veterans benefit fraud;
(E) fraudulent offers pertaining to employment or 
business opportunities;
(F) predatory lending;
(G) veteran charity schemes;
(H) foreign money offers and fake check scams;
(I) mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management 
fraud;
(J) military allotment system abuse; and
(K) military records fraud.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
(g) 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.
(h) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
(1) The Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
Representatives.
(2) The Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
Representatives.
(3) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives.
(4) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate.
(5) The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.
(6) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
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