Aspen Institute Seems to be Making Great Strides in Fixing Our Online Scams Problem

Jul 3, 2025

Kate Griffin, Director of Programs at the Aspen Institute, and Nick Bourke, Senior Policy Advisor, explore the urgent issue of online scams costing Americans billions. They discuss the Aspen Institute's National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention and its groundbreaking efforts to bring together diverse stakeholders. Listeners learn how personal stories and collaborative strategies can enhance consumer education and technology's dual role in scams. The conversation emphasizes a comprehensive national approach to tackle fraud and restore trust in digital systems.

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INSIGHT

Tracing and Prosecuting Scams

Digital money transfers and cryptocurrency facilitate fast, cross-border scam proceeds movement.
Law enforcement struggles without resources to bundle and trace multiple victim cases effectively.

INSIGHT

Lack of Unified Scam Leadership

No single entity has top responsibility or comprehensive data across scam victims and platforms.
Siloed information and lack of leadership hamper effective scam combat.

ADVICE

Lifecycle Approach to Scams

Adopt a lifecycle approach: deter, detect, disrupt, report, recover to combat scams.
Facilitate privacy-secured information exchange between banks, social media, and law enforcement.

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The genesis of the podcast show we are releasing today was an article written by Nick Bourke titled "America Can Fix Its Scam Problem. But We Keep Gifting Billions to Transnational Criminals Because It Feels Too Hard" published on April 12, 2025 in Open Banker. We learned from that article about the great work being done by Aspen Institute's National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention. The purpose of the podcast is to describe the work of this Task Force

The Aspen Institute states the following about the Task Force:

Every day, criminals steal $430 million from American families, with total fraud proceeds reaching $158 billion annually. They are a critical funding source for transnational criminal organizations, fueling drug cartels, human trafficking, and terrorism.

Fraud losses reported to the FBI increased 15-fold over roughly the last decade, and the rise of new technologies like AI has made scams more sophisticated and easier to perpetuate to harm American families.

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program launched the National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention in 2024 to develop the first coordinated U.S. national strategy aimed at stopping financial fraud at its root.

The guiding purpose of the Task Force is to bring together all parties with an interest in protecting consumers and restoring trust in our financial system. This is the first time such a broad collection of leaders from across government, law enforcement, private industry, and civil society are coming together to develop a nationwide strategy aimed at helping prevent fraud and scams.

Our guests on this podcast are: Kate Griffin, Director of Programs, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and Nick Bourke, Senior Policy Adviser, The Aspen Institute.

Our guests covered the following topics:

1. What is the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program and how did the Aspen Institute come to launch the National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention? Who is participating in the Task Force? Why is such a cross-sector (industry, consumer advocates and government) very important? What is standing in the way of more robust, secure, cross-sector data-sharing today?

2. How big is the fraud and scams problem in the United States right now? How has it changed over time?

3. What are some of the implications of this problem? How should we be thinking about this beyond the consumer-level financial impacts? Where is all this money going, and what does that mean for our national security? How do fraud/scams compare to other forms of organized crime? Why is it so difficult for victims to recover their financial losses? Are there any efforts ongoing in Congress to alleviate this? Despite all the anti-fraud measures, educational resources, and even public media coverage, why do scammers still seem to be gaining ground? What are some of the biggest gaps or weaknesses in the U.S. system that scammers exploit? Are there promising models from other countries or sectors the U.S. can learn from? How is AI changing the landscape of scams — both in how they're perpetrated and how we might stop them?

4. What's the right balance between imposing duties on companies and offering legal safe harbors so they're not afraid to act?

5. Some people still feel a stigma around sharing when they have been the victim of a scam. How do we shift the environment away from victim-blaming and toward support?

6. The Task Force is driving toward developing a "national strategy" for fighting fraud and scams. What are some of the necessary components to make this truly effective? What do you mean by the need for a "national front door for reporting"?

7. Consumer education has to continue playing a role here. What kinds of public awareness campaigns or interventions have proven effective? What kinds of leadership or investment are needed from Congress, the White House, or federal agencies?

8. Are there any incentives that could better align corporate interests around fraud and scam prevention? Are there examples of companies that are leading the way on this issue?

9. What are the Task Force's next steps? When should we expect to hear more about the national strategy that's coming together?

Alan Kaplinsky, founder of and former Chair for 25 years of the Consumer Financial Services Group, hosted the podcast show.