Ranking Member Shaheen Opening Remarks for Hearing on Online Scam Operations, Urges Passage of Bipartisan SCAM Act

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks during a committee hearing entitled, “Protecting Americans from Global Scam Operations: Assessing the U.S. Response.” The hearing focused on transnational criminal organizations behind online scam operations and the bipartisan Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act.

You can watch her opening remarks here.

In her remarks, Ranking Member Shaheen described how overseas scam compounds are spreading rapidly across the globe and detailed the mounting financial toll on Americans, including her own constituents in New Hampshire.

“Behind many of the online scams targeting Americans are scam compounds where trafficked workers are forced to defraud victims online,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “Just a few years ago, these compounds were concentrated in a handful of countries. But today, scam operations have spread to countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and even in the Western Hemisphere. Americans lose more than $12 billion dollars—billion with a B—a year from schemes perpetrated by overseas scam compounds … Global losses are now estimated to exceed $100 billion dollars each year. And every senator on this committee has constituents whose lives have been upended by sophisticated online fraud.”

Ranking Member Shaheen emphasized how the transnational scam operations threaten U.S. national security, exploiting corruption and weak governance while making billions of dollars that are often traced to Chinese criminal syndicates.

“This hearing looks beyond those individual stories to the transnational criminal organizations behind many of these sophisticated fraud schemes and why law enforcement alone is not going to be able to dismantle them,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “These networks have direct consequences for U.S. national security—they span multiple countries, often eroding the rule of law and exploiting weak governance. And they thrive on corruption. They rely on victims from over 80 countries who have been trafficked and forced to carry out these scams. And they generate billions for transnational criminal organizations, many with links to China.”

Ranking Member Shaheen then underscored the importance of passing the SCAM Act to guarantee that coordinated international responses to scam compounds become a fixed part of U.S. policy.

“That’s exactly the approach Senator Cornyn and I put forward in the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization, or SCAM Act, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “The bill would build on the Administration's work by making that coordinated international response a permanent part of U.S. policy.”

The Ranking Member’s remarks, as delivered, are below.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today. As the Chairman says, behind many of the online scams targeting Americans are scam compounds where trafficked workers are forced to defraud victims online. Just a few years ago, these compounds were concentrated in a handful of countries. But today, scam operations have spread to countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and even in the Western Hemisphere.

Americans lose more than $12 billion dollars—billion with a B—a year from schemes perpetrated by overseas scam compounds. We have that poster to just remind everybody about the total. Global losses are now estimated to exceed $100 billion dollars each year.

And every senator on this committee has constituents whose lives have been upended by sophisticated online fraud. In Hollis, New Hampshire, one 78-year-old lost about $150,000 after being lured into a fraudulent online investment scheme. And another Granite State resident reported purchasing a vehicle online and lost $6,200 and never received the car, and his calls went unanswered. We’ve had a scam in New Hampshire targeting our EZ pass system that’s gone out to everyone who has an EZ pass in the state. [...] At a time when families are already feeling squeezed, they cannot afford to lose their hard-earned savings to fraud.

This hearing looks beyond those individual stories to the transnational criminal organizations behind many of these sophisticated fraud schemes and why law enforcement alone is not going to be able to dismantle them.

These networks have direct consequences for U.S. national security—they span multiple countries, often eroding the rule of law and exploiting weak governance. And they thrive on corruption. They rely on victims from over 80 countries who have been trafficked and forced to carry out these scams. And they generate billions for transnational criminal organizations, many with links to China. Fighting them requires diplomacy, support for human trafficking victims, international law enforcement cooperation, sanctions and strong partnerships with foreign governments.

Now, the good news is that the United States has begun responding to this threat. The Administration has elevated countering scam compounds to be a national security priority. It has imposed sanctions on scam operators and human traffickers. And it has pursued criminal prosecutions and launched a government-wide effort to combat these networks.

These are important steps. But the criminal networks are adapting just as quickly. And when one country cracks down, they move somewhere else. Without a coordinated global response, it becomes a game of whack-a-mole. If these criminal organizations operate across borders, our response has to be to operate across borders. That means preventing recruitment, supporting trafficking survivors, working with our allies and partners and holding both criminal organizations and the governments that enable them accountable.

That’s exactly the approach Senator Cornyn and I put forward in the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization, or SCAM Act, [...] which passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would build on the Administration’s work by making that coordinated international response a permanent part of U.S. policy.

Today’s hearing is about how we build on that progress. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what's working, about where the gaps remain and what it will take to build a response that is every bit as coordinated as the criminal networks we’re trying to defeat.

Again, thank you both for being here.

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