AmericaGAO’s selected priority recommendation calls for a coordinated government-wide strategy to counter consumer scams. The FBI leads in collaboration with other agencies. The source still lists it as open; a cyber-enabled fraud initiative is not automatically a strategy covering every kind of scam.
GAO-25-107088 / Recommendation 1 ↗ · Selected comment 2026-06 · Source consulted 2026-10-05
Who can implement this action?
- Institutional owner
- FBI Director, coordinating with CFPB, FTC, Treasury and other agencies
- Authority path
- Agency recommendation—not a new law
- Selected source action
- Recommendation 1
- Stable desk join key
- GAO-25-107088:recommendation-1
Agree on the problem, roles, data, resources, and implementation measures across agencies so prevention, reporting, and enforcement do not leave important gaps.
GAO-25-107088 / Recommendation 1 ↗ · Selected comment 2026-06 · Source consulted 2026-10-05
A recommendation is not itself an enacted law, an appropriation, or proof of misconduct. The owner here is the institutional role identified in the source, not an endorsement or accusation about whoever holds it today. This record follows one selected action; it does not claim to track every action in the underlying report.
What changed—and when?
In its June 2026 comment, GAO reports the FBI’s participation in a national coordination effort after a March executive order. The FBI said it paused work on this recommendation while responding to that order’s action-plan requirement. GAO continued to call for a comprehensive government-wide strategy addressing scams.
GAO-25-107088 / Recommendation 1 ↗ · Selected comment 2026-06 · Source consulted 2026-10-05
GAO’s status label, an agency’s description of its work, and our interpretation are separate. An older comment remains older even when the page is retrieved today. Check the current official record before relying on a deadline or claiming the action is complete.
What does the financial claim mean?
- Benefit class
- Prevention + coordinated service
- As reported
- Not quantified in annual example
- Time horizon
- No financial horizon supplied
- Attributed estimate source
- GAO 2026 annual report
The annual report identifies improved prevention, detection, and coordination. It does not provide a dollar savings forecast for this topic. That absence is an unknown estimate, not zero public value.
GAO-26-108505 / May 12, 2026 annual report ↗ · Read the table, notes and underlying discussion ↗
A task force, announcement, or cyber-only plan is not proof that the selected comprehensive strategy has been implemented. Suspicious activity amounts and reported losses are different measures; neither is treated here as money recovered.
A rise in reports can reflect improved reporting rather than more victimization. A fall can reflect barriers to reporting rather than success.
Potential savings, preserved revenue, tax-expenditure changes, and service improvements are not interchangeable. Neither this estimate nor this page creates an entitlement or an IOU. A separate lawful budget decision would be needed to allocate any funds. Why the desk does not show a grand total.
What would demonstrate real progress?
Evidence to satisfy the selected action: A comprehensive strategy whose scope, responsibilities, resources, data standards, and implementation evidence satisfy GAO’s recommendation. Official GAO closure is separate from an agency’s statement of progress.
GAO-25-107088 / Recommendation 1 ↗ · Selected comment 2026-06 · Source consulted 2026-10-05
A practical evaluation test
Walk a hypothetical report through the public-facing system: where does a person start, who receives it, what happens next, and how are duplicate reports handled? Use invented test details, not real victim information.
The evaluation test and questions below are America.co’s proposed research framework, not GAO’s prescribed procedure or a reported result.
- Which scam categories are included—and which are excluded?
- Can agencies explain handoffs and accountability in a single public document?
- Are prevention outcomes measured separately from reports, investigations, and recovered funds?
Attach each answer to a public document, date, and responsible institution. If a fact is missing, keep it unknown. Preserve contrary evidence rather than forcing the record into a success/failure story. A useful account explains what would change the conclusion.
Explore a related civic resource ↗Optional / local-only
Turn the record into a checkable question.
No account, personal data, or political profile is required. This worksheet is not submitted or automatically saved. Omit private health, borrower, victim, or personnel records. You can leave unknowns unresolved.
Important distinctions
Who is responsible for the selected recommendation?
GAO directs it to the FBI Director, in coordination with CFPB, FTC, Treasury and other agencies as appropriate. That is an institutional role, not an attribution to a particular officeholder.
How much money would the strategy save?
The annual example does not quantify a financial benefit. This desk leaves that field unquantified rather than inventing a return or equating suspicious activity with confirmed losses.
Follow the source trail.
- GAO-25-107088 / official report and action status ↗Published 2025-04-08; publicly released 2025-04-08. Selected action: Recommendation 1.
- GAO-26-108505 / annual topic and financial context ↗Published 2026-05-12. A topic estimate is not an estimate solely for one selected action.
- GAO’s complete duplication and cost-savings tracker ↗Use the official tracker for broader coverage. This desk is an eight-record pilot.
For a correction, send the disputed passage, the selected action, and a current public source through our contact page. Do not send private records. We are not GAO, not a government agency, and not an expert legal, tax, medical, or engineering reviewer. People and editorial standards.