House passes bill to equip local law enforcement with scam-fighting tools
The Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act (GUARD) attempts to address a common complaint from the victims of online scams like pig butchering — that such cases typically do not rise to the level of a federal investigation but local law enforcement is unequipped to properly investigate them.
“This will help to ensure that state and local law enforcement, who really are on the front of lines of fighting scams, have the right tools to do so.” Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a companion bill in the upper chamber in July 2025, emphasizing the need for local law enforcement to have access to blockchain tracing technology.
On Tuesday evening, the House also passed a bill that would eliminate the so-called “scam tax” requiring Americans to pay taxes on funds that were stolen from them.
“One of the things that we heard through AARP’s Fraud Watch Network over and over from scam victims was that when they reported scams to their local police, local police didn’t have the right tools… to actually investigate those crimes,” she said.
The bill would apply retroactively for victims scammed between 2021 and 2025.
The Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act (GUARD) attempts to address a common complaint from the victims of online scams like pig butchering — that such cases typically do not rise to the level of a federal investigation but local law enforcement is unequipped to properly investigate them.
They could also use the funds for training on how to help victims of financial fraud and exploitation and how to use blockchain intelligence tools to trace stolen cryptocurrency and identify perpetrators.
The language of the bill specifically highlights the vulnerability of seniors to such scams, which are often carried out from overseas by transnational criminal groups.
A bill that would free up federal funding to help local law enforcement investigate financial scams passed the U.S.
Zachary Nunn (R-IA), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) would allow law enforcement to use existing federal grant money to investigate cases involving financial fraud, including by hiring analysts and experts in such crimes.
The grant money could be used to purchase software to conduct financial investigations and to designate a point of contact for financial institutions to share information with law enforcement agencies.
What you need to know
“This will help to ensure that state and local law enforcement, who really are on the front of lines of fighting scams, have the right tools to do so.” Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a companion bill in the upper chamber in July 2025, emphasizing the need for local law enforcement to have access to blockchain tracing technology.
On Tuesday evening, the House also passed a bill that would eliminate the so-called “scam tax” requiring Americans to pay taxes on funds that were stolen from them.
What security teams should do
“This will help to ensure that state and local law enforcement, who really are on the front of lines of fighting scams, have the right tools to do so.” Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a companion bill in the upper chamber in July 2025, emphasizing the need for local law enforcement to have access to blockchain tracing technology.
A bill that would free up federal funding to help local law enforcement investigate financial scams passed the U.S.
What to watch next
Watch for new exploitation reports and updated indicators of compromise.