HOUSE PASSES BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT TO GIVE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MORE TOOLS AGAINST FINANCIAL SCAMS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives has passed bipartisan legislation designed to give state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies greater access to federal resources for investigating financial fraud, including cryptocurrency investment scams and other schemes that frequently target older Americans.

The Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act, or GUARD Act, H.R. 2978, passed the House as amended on September 15 by a 414-7 vote and now moves to the Senate for consideration. The measure was introduced by Representatives Zach Nunn of Iowa, Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

The legislation addresses a recurring problem in financial-fraud investigations: many victims report losses to local police departments, yet those agencies may lack specialized personnel, blockchain-analysis software, financial investigators, or training needed to follow money moving through cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges, shell companies, overseas accounts, and other complex channels.

The GUARD Act would allow eligible existing federal grant funding to be used by state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies for financial-fraud investigations rather than creating a separate new grant program.

Those funds could support the hiring of analysts and financial-crime specialists, specialized training, investigative technology, and other resources used to identify suspects and trace stolen funds.

The measure also clarifies that federal law enforcement agencies may assist state, local, and Tribal investigators and fusion centers with blockchain-tracing technology and related tools when cryptocurrency is involved in a fraud investigation.

That capability has become particularly important as cryptocurrency has become deeply embedded in large-scale investment fraud.

The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report recorded more than $11 billion in reported losses involving cryptocurrency across 181,565 complaints. Cyber-enabled fraud overall produced more than $17.7 billion in reported losses, while investment fraud accounted for nearly half of those scam-related losses. Americans over age 60 reported approximately $7.7 billion in losses during 2025.

Investment fraud alone accounted for more than $8.6 billion in reported losses during 2025, according to figures cited in congressional material supporting the GUARD Act.

One major focus is cryptocurrency investment fraud, frequently described as “pig butchering.”

In these schemes, criminals often spend weeks or months building trust with a victim before introducing what appears to be a legitimate investment opportunity. The victim is directed to transfer funds, frequently using cryptocurrency, into an investment platform controlled by the criminals.

Fake account balances and fabricated profits may be displayed to encourage larger deposits. When the victim attempts to withdraw the money, additional fees, taxes, or deposits may be demanded before communication eventually stops.

The FBI describes cryptocurrency investment fraud as one of the most prevalent and damaging financial schemes currently affecting victims and warns that the supposed investments are fraudulent and controlled by criminals, often operating overseas.

The scale and structure of these crimes can create difficulties for local investigators.

A victim may live in one jurisdiction while funds move through banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets, or intermediaries located across multiple states or countries. The people communicating with the victim may also be operating overseas as part of organized criminal networks.

A conventional local fraud investigation can therefore become a digital financial-tracing case almost immediately.

The GUARD Act is intended to narrow that capability gap.

Supporters say local investigators need access to the same categories of analytical tools used in larger federal financial investigations, particularly when cryptocurrency transactions provide a trail that can be followed across blockchain networks.

Representative Nunn said the legislation grew in part from concerns raised by an Iowa sheriff’s deputy who said officers were seeing victims lose substantial savings while investigators lacked sufficient tools to track the people responsible and recover stolen funds.

Representative Gottheimer said the bill would direct more investigative resources toward scams involving overseas networks and emerging financial technology. Representative Fitzgerald said the measure is intended to help law enforcement keep pace with fraud schemes that have become more technically complex and cross-jurisdictional.

The measure would also require the Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and other federal partners to provide Congress with additional information about the scale of financial scams, the amount Americans are losing, connections to foreign and organized criminal actors, and the effectiveness of enforcement efforts.

A Senate companion, S. 2544, was introduced in July 2025 by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Katie Britt of Alabama and later advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February 2026.

Their version similarly focuses on allowing existing federal grant recipients to devote resources and personnel to blockchain-based financial-fraud investigations and permitting federal authorities to assist local agencies with cryptocurrency-tracing technology.

The legislation places particular attention on older Americans because reported losses among that population remain substantial.

The FBI reported that people over age 60 accounted for approximately $7.7 billion in internet-crime losses during 2025, up 37 percent from the previous year. Cryptocurrency-related complaints involving older victims accounted for more than $4.3 billion in losses, while investment schemes generated more than $3.5 billion in losses among senior victims.

Those numbers illustrate why financial scams can quickly move beyond ordinary consumer fraud.

Victims can lose retirement accounts, home equity, savings accumulated over decades, and money borrowed after criminals convince them that additional transfers are necessary to recover earlier investments.

The legislation does not change the underlying criminal statutes used to prosecute fraud.

Its primary purpose is investigative capacity — giving local agencies more options for using federal grant money, obtaining technical expertise, following digital assets, coordinating with financial institutions, and working with federal partners when cases cross jurisdictional boundaries.

That distinction matters because local police are often the first authorities contacted by victims.

If investigators cannot quickly preserve records, trace transactions, identify exchanges, obtain account information, or coordinate with other agencies, stolen money can move through multiple financial channels before law enforcement has a chance to intervene.

The House passage came during broader congressional action addressing financial-scam victims.

On the same day, the House approved the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act, H.R. 9500, which restores the federal theft-loss deduction for 2026 and provides retroactive relief for qualifying fraud losses incurred from 2021 through 2025. That measure is separate from the GUARD Act.

The GUARD Act has not yet become law.

Following House passage, H.R. 2978 now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers would need to approve the legislation before it could advance further in the federal legislative process.

If enacted, the measure would give local investigators a broader path to the technology, expertise, and federal support needed to pursue financial crimes that can begin with a phone call or online message and end with money moving through digital networks around the world.

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U.S. Congress — H.R. 2978, the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act, or GUARD Act, introduced in the 119th Congress on April 21, 2025. (Free Download)

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