Aspen Institute Financial Security Program Launches Scam Prevention Initiative to Turn National Strategy into Action

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (Aspen FSP) announced the launch of the Scam Prevention Initiative, a new effort focused on advancing practical solutions and driving coordinated action to reduce the scale and severity of scams affecting Americans.

The launch comes at a pivotal moment for scam prevention efforts in the United States. Americans are estimated to lose nearly $200 billion each year to scams, making this one of the most significant and fastest-growing threats to household financial security. These losses are driven by sophisticated criminal enterprises, often operating across borders and exploiting gaps between industries, platforms, and enforcement systems. Through its initial National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention in 2024-2025, Aspen FSP helped convene more than 80 institutions and 300 experts to develop a national strategy for preventing scams. That growing alignment across sectors is now reflected in heightened attention from the White House, federal agencies, Congress, and the private sector.

Building on this foundation, the Initiative will focus on improving how scams are measured and understood, strengthening collaboration across government, industry, law enforcement, and consumer advocacy, and advancing practical tools to prevent scams before they cause harm.

"Fraud and scams are a shared threat, and they require a shared response," said Kate Griffin, Director of the Scam Prevention Initiative at Aspen FSP. "Over the past two years, Aspen FSP has helped align government, industry, and advocates around a common strategy. The Scam Prevention Initiative turns that momentum into action by bringing leaders across sectors together to tackle a problem no organization can solve alone and to build a safer, more trusted financial system for American households."

At the center of the Initiative is the newly established Leadership Group on Scam Prevention, which brings together leaders from across the scam prevention ecosystem, including the financial services, technology, retail, and consumer advocacy sectors. Participating organizations include AARP, American Bankers Association (ABA), Amazon, Apple, Block, Inc., Capital One, Citizens Financial Group, Gen, Google, JPMorganChase, Match Group, Microsoft, PayPal, Target, Walmart, and Zelle.

"Fraud and scams are a shared challenge, and addressing them requires coordinated action," said Ravi Govindaraju, Head of Product, Trust & Security at JPMorganChase. "We're proud to join this Initiative and support the kind of ecosystem-wide approach needed to bring public, private, and nonprofit organizations together around practical solutions that help people prevent scams and keep their finances secure."

"Scams are an industry-wide issue that goes far beyond any single company," said Abigail Bishop, head of scam prevention at Amazon. "We're committed to ensuring scammers cannot exploit Amazon's brand to take advantage of the customers who trust us—from holding bad actors accountable to educating customers on how to stay safe. We're proud to join this Initiative and support the kind of shared response that this moment demands."

In addition to the Leadership Group, the Initiative will convene issue-specific forums that bring together technical experts, law enforcement officials, consumer advocates, policymakers, and industry practitioners to address key operational, technological, and policy challenges related to scam prevention. Together, these efforts are designed to move the national conversation on scams from awareness to implementation.

Over the next few years, the Initiative will focus on:

• Building a clearer picture of the scam landscape by improving how scams are measured, tracked, and understood across sectors
• Convening leaders across industry, government, and civil society to align on priorities and measure progress against shared goals
• Advancing information-sharing and practical solutions that build on existing investments, help organizations prevent scams, disrupt criminal activity, and better protect consumers
• Ensuring scam prevention remains a sustained national priority among business leaders and policymakers

By bringing together leaders across sectors, Aspen FSP aims to help drive the collaboration and action needed to reduce the harm these crimes inflict on American households. To learn more, visit scamprevention.aspeninstitute.org.

About the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program's (Aspen FSP) mission is to illuminate and solve the most critical financial challenges facing American households and to make financial security for all a top national priority. We aim for nothing less than a more inclusive economy with reduced wealth inequality and shared prosperity. We believe that transformational change requires innovation, trust, leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking. Aspen FSP galvanizes a diverse set of leaders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to solve the most critical financial challenges. We do this through deep, deliberate private and public dialogues and by elevating evidence-based research and solutions that will strengthen the financial health and security of financially vulnerable Americans. To learn more, visit AspenFSP.org, join our mailing list at as.pn/subscribe, and follow The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program on LinkedIn.

PRESS CONTACT

Caroline Geithner

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SOURCE The Aspen Institute