Military Consumer Protection Task Force Act of 2025
The Military Consumer Protection Task Force Act of 2025 would create a new interagency Task Force aimed at protecting active-duty service members, veterans, and military families from financial fraud. Within 90 days of enactment, the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs would form a Task Force that includes key federal agencies (DoD, VA, FTC, CFPB, DOJ, FCC, Postal Inspection Service) and three NGO representatives with expertise in combatting financial fraud (at least one from a veterans’ service organization). The Task Force would regularly work to identify current and emerging fraud schemes affecting military communities, assess existing protections (such as the Military Lending Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act), collect relevant data, and develop recommendations to strengthen federal efforts to detect, prevent, and counter fraud. It would issue a baseline report within 180 days and then annual reports to Congress. The bill is motivated by documented increases in financial fraud losses and complaints targeting military consumers in 2023 and 2024, and it seeks to coordinate interagency action, broaden stakeholder input, and produce concrete recommendations for federal programs and policies to reduce scams such as impersonation, investment fraud, pension poaching, charity scams, predatory lending, fake checks, and other forms of exploitation.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and purpose: Creates an Interagency Task Force on Financial Fraud Targeting members of the Armed Forces and veterans, with a defined goal of identifying and recommending improvements to prevent and combat fraud against military communities.
- 2Membership: Task Force to include DoD, VA, FTC, CFPB, DOJ, FCC, Postal Inspection Service, and three NGO representatives (one of whom must be a veterans’ service organization), appointed by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the VA Secretary.
- 3Duties and scope: Tasks include data collection on financial challenges, identifying and evaluating fraud methods (e.g., imposter/phishing scams, pension poaching, veteran benefit fraud, predatory lending, fake charity schemes, mortgage/debt relief fraud, military records fraud, among others), assessing risks from new financial technologies, and evaluating existing federal programs (like the Military Lending Act and SCRA) for effectiveness.
- 4Meetings and consultation: Must meet at least three times per year and actively consult with victims, other federal agencies not on the Task Force, and a broad set of public/private stakeholders (including state/local law enforcement, financial services, tech companies, and social media platforms).
- 5Reporting: Required to deliver an initial report within 180 days after enactment and provide annual reports detailing findings and recommendations to Congress.