House Passes GUARD Act to Arm Local Police Against Scams

A Bipartisan Win for Scam Victims

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 414-7 on Tuesday to pass the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act, known as the GUARD Act — a bipartisan bill designed to close a long-standing gap between how scam victims report crimes and what local police are actually equipped to do about them.

The legislation was introduced by Representatives Zachary Nunn (R-IA), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). Its lopsided vote margin reflects how widely the underlying problem is felt: scam losses have exploded across nearly every congressional district, but the officers fielding those complaints often lack the training, staffing, or software to chase the money.

The Problem: Too Small for the Feds, Too Big for Local PD

Victims of online fraud — particularly "pig-butchering" cryptocurrency investment scams and romance/elder-fraud schemes — have long faced a frustrating catch-22:

• Individual cases frequently fall below the dollar threshold that triggers a federal investigation (FBI, Secret Service, etc.)
• Local police departments, who are often the first and only responders, typically lack blockchain-tracing tools, fraud analysts, or dedicated training to investigate financial crime that increasingly moves through crypto wallets and offshore accounts
• The result: reports get filed, a case number gets issued, and the money — and the trail — goes cold

The GUARD Act is built specifically to fix that middle gap rather than create a new federal enforcement arm.

What the Bill Actually Does

Rather than creating a new grant program from scratch, the GUARD Act reallocates and clarifies use of five existing Department of Justice grant programs, allowing state, local, and tribal law enforcement to spend that funding on:

The bill also clarifies that federal law enforcement agencies may assist state, local, and tribal agencies and fusion centers with blockchain-tracing technology — formalizing a cooperation path that previously existed in a legal gray area. It further requires the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to report on anti-fraud efforts, including elder financial fraud and pig-butchering scams, and to recommend further legislative action if gaps remain.

The bill enjoys backing from a notably broad coalition, including AARP, the Iowa State Police Association, the Financial Technology Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, America's Credit Union Association, the National Police Association, and the Crypto Council for Innovation — a sign that both consumer-advocacy and financial-industry groups see the current gap as unsustainable.

The Scale of the Problem

The GUARD Act didn't emerge in a vacuum. Recent federal reporting has repeatedly quantified just how large scam losses have grown:

• The FBI has reported cybercrime losses near $21 billion in a single year, much of it tied to investment fraud and romance scams
• The FTC has logged record losses to imposter scams, with billions more lost to social-media-driven fraud
• The Treasury Department has separately urged banks to step up cyber-scam reporting, citing nearly $13 billion in losses flowing through the banking system since 2023

Elder Americans remain disproportionately targeted — pig-butchering operations in particular are built around long-con relationship-building that specifically preys on isolated or less crypto-literate victims.

What's Next: The Senate

The House vote sends the bill to the Senate, where a companion bill was introduced by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) back in July 2025 and was placed on the Senate's legislative calendar in February 2026. With bipartisan sponsorship in both chambers and a near-unanimous House vote behind it, the GUARD Act has a clearer runway than most standalone bills — though, as always, floor time in the Senate is not guaranteed.

Notably, the House also passed a separate bill the same evening eliminating the so-called "scam tax," which currently requires victims to pay income tax on money that was stolen from them — a companion policy fix aimed at the same population of fraud victims.

Practical Takeaways for Readers

Legislation moves slowly; scammers don't wait. Until (and after) the GUARD Act clears the Senate, the same defensive basics apply:

1. Be skeptical of unsolicited investment "opportunities" — especially ones that start as a casual text, dating-app match, or wrong-number message before pivoting to crypto
2. Verify before you transfer — legitimate investment platforms don't pressure same-day wire transfers or crypto deposits
3. Report immediately — file with your local police, the FBI's IC3 (ic3.gov), and your bank or exchange; faster reports mean a better chance of freezing funds before they move offshore
4. Loop in family — elder-fraud schemes often specifically target isolated victims; regular check-ins with older relatives about unusual financial activity can catch a scam mid-stream
5. Save everything — screenshots, wallet addresses, and transaction IDs make blockchain-tracing tools (the same kind this bill funds) far more effective

Related Reading

• Treasury Urges Banks to File Cyber Scam Reports, Noting Nearly $13 Billion in Losses Since 2023
• Indian Man Who Fled US Arrested for Helping Scammers Siphon $7.5M from the Elderly
• FTC Warns of Record $3.5 Billion in Losses to Imposter Scams in 2025