By Nick Busse

America’s veterans answered the call to serve. As a country, we owe them a debt of gratitude that we can’t repay. But one thing we can do is ensure that they’re not facing new, dangerous threats at home. 

Today, too many of our nation’s veterans, and the seniors who stand beside them in our communities, are being targeted by a different kind of enemy: sophisticated, relentless fraudsters. Unlike the threats they faced abroad, these fraudsters are faceless, hidden behind computer screens and cell phones. 

Every day, thousands of Americans lose significant sums of money to scams delivered through text messages, phone calls, and social media. These aren’t isolated incidents or simple cons. They are coordinated operations that exploit trust, urgency, and often loneliness. 

In the veteran community, where values like service, respect, and integrity run deep, scammers weaponize that trust. Oftentimes, they’ll pose as government officials, financial institutions, or even fellow veterans in need to steal from unsuspecting veterans and fellow Americans.  

According to the Federal Trade Commission, veterans lost more than $584 million to scammers in 2024. I’ve spoken with retirees who lost life savings through fraudulent investment schemes. I’ve met widows of veterans tricked into wiring money to criminals impersonating the Department of Veterans Affairs. These stories are not rare. In fact, they are becoming routine. That should alarm every one of us.

The scams themselves are evolving quickly. Criminal networks now span the globe, from Southeast Asia to Latin America, moving money through crypto platforms, payment apps, gift cards, and even physical assets like gold. This is not a single-channel problem. It is a complex, adaptive threat that demands a comprehensive response.

Congress must act. But what actions they take matters. 

Solutions that put the blame for this problem at the feet of a single entity like peer-to-peer payment platforms or banks and make these entities responsible for refunding victims of scams are not real solutions. Policies like these have been floated in both Sacramento and Washington, DC. While they sound good on the surface, in practice, they would embolden criminals by making someone else responsible for their crimes and create new red tape for responsible users. 

As a country, we can do better than putting a band-aid over this problem. And we can start by going after crooks. 

Properly addressing scams starts with increasing resources for law enforcement. Our agencies cannot dismantle sophisticated international fraud rings without the personnel, technology, and authority to track them across borders and platforms.

We also need better cooperation in this area, like a cross-agency task force dedicated specifically to fraud and scams. Coordination between federal, state, and local entities, alongside private sector partners, is essential to disrupt these criminal ecosystems. The bipartisan TRAPS Act in Congress that would set up this task force is a good place to start. 

More consumer education is also important. But so is giving Americans a clear, simple reporting system. Victims often don’t know where to turn when they have been scammed, and delays in reporting only help scammers disappear. A streamlined, well-publicized process would improve response times and data collection.

We also need stronger international cooperation to identify, target, and shut down scam centers before they reach American victims. And to learn what works. Other countries have implemented effective measures such as requiring registration for mass text messaging and strengthening controls on suspicious financial transactions. These are practical steps that can reduce exposure to fraud at scale.

Protecting veterans and seniors from financial exploitation isn’t just good policy. It is a moral obligation. These are Americans who have already given so much. They should not have to spend their post-service years defending themselves from invisible predators.