***. “Corruption is never an individual act.. It always involves groups of people bound by one fundamental rule of association: an exchange of favors.. It allows crime to be protected with impunity and is characterized by an intolerable arrogance.” [ Roberto Matta ]

This post presents excerpts from “Little Recourse For Scam Victims As Cases Balloon” [ Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman, Erika Kinetz; Frontline & Associated Press; 9/6/26 ]:

6] “Before 2018, victims of theft or fraud could sometimes deduct losses incurred from their taxable income. But under a provision of the Trump administration’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, made permanent in 2025, personal losses from many common scams are not eligible for tax breaks. That means victims can owe taxes after money was stolen from them.”

7]. “A law before Congress, the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act, would reinstate an allowance for victims to deduct their losses. AARP fraud prevention lead Kathy Stokes urged Congress earlier this year to help scam victims who are “stuck with a bill they don’t deserve and have no way to pay.” “Essentially they’re being revictimized by the U.S. government,: Stokes said.”

8]. “Banks also sometimes blame people who are scammed instead of seeing them as crime victims, or even accuse them of being complicit. Victims describe having their accounts abruptly frozen or canceled, along with demands for repayment on loans and legal fees.”

***. “The…[crypto]…industry has already secured major victories under Trump. Last year, Congress passed the Genius Act, creating industry-friendly rules for a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin and regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission have adopted favorable policies toward crypto.” [ “Crypto regulatory bill fails to pass in Senate”; David Yaffe-Bellany; New York Times; 9/17/26 ]

16] “china bans crypto-related businesses, while the European Union requires licensing, consumer protections and broad disclosures. but while the Trump administration has backed some cryptocurrency regulation, it has also promised to halt “aggressive enforcement actions and regulatory overreach” to promote innovation.”

18]. “..advocates say funding hasn’t flowed to the federal agencies tasked with combating scams, investigating cybercrime, and developing a cohesive plan for attacking the problem.”

19] “At least 13 federal agencies touch on different aspects of these crimes, according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office. Seto Bagdoyan, who runs the office’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service, said this piecemeal approach results in a sluggish strategy that “falls short.””

***. “Under the Biden administration, U.S. financial regulators cracked down on the crypto industry, filing lawsuits..argued that digital currencies were subject to the same rules as securities………When he took office, Trump ended the regulatory crackdown on crypto companies.” [. Yaffe-Bellany ]

2]. “Americans reported a record $15.9 billion in losses last year to the Federal Trade Commission, a 25% increase from 2024. And such estimates are likely a massive undercount because most scam victims are too embarrassed to report their crimes.”

3] “The FTC estimates that real losses in 2024 were close to $200 billion; that’s $550 million every day just in the U.S.”

4] “The ballooning costs are fueled by huge advances in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.. AI allows scammers to work at a previously unimaginable scale and level of sophistication, and cryptocurrency, often used in investment scams, is a form of digital cash that can be hard to trace to its real owners.”

5]. “No one is immune…Ninety-eight percent of Americans suspect they have been targeted by scammers…Three in 10 said they have personally lost money or information to scams.”

***. “Trump’s crypto grifting amounts to the greatest corruption in presidential history,” said Robert Weisman, co-president of Public Citizen. “Both the crypto bill that has already passed and the one still to come stamp a congressional seal of approval on that corruption.” [ David Rosen: “Crypto Corruption on Overdrive”; Public Citizen News; November/December, 2025 ]

1]. “..the U.S. still lags behind some other countries in tackling the problem, holding financial and social media companies responsible and regulating the cryptocurrency scammers rely on..”

9]. “The U.s. is taking steps to improve cooperation with the private sector on fighting scams but. – unlike a growing number of other countries. – has stopped short of requiring companies to do more to protect consumers or face financial penalties.”

10] “Eight in 10 Americans across political lines said the U.S. government isn’t doing enough to protect them against scams, according to a new Gallop survey. And more than half said financial institutions, social media and tech companies and the federal government should also share responsibility..”

***. “Crypto’s Richest Man Crafts Sophisticated Campaign for Trump Pardon” [ Kenneth Vogel, David Yaffe-Bellany; New York Times; 8/12/25]: “Mr. Zhao and Binance pleaded gulty to serious crimes in 2023…Mr. Zhao’s push stands out..helped deep-pocketed interests win preferential treatment from Mr. Trump”

11] “since late 2024, financial services companies in the United Kingdom have generally had to reimburse clients tricked into sending money to scammers..”

12]. “The European Union is also rolling out rules that make financial institutions potentially liable for scammed funds if they don’t put in adequate fraud protections.’

13] “New regulations in Australia also spread the responsibility for preventing scams. financial institutions, telecommunications companies and digital platforms in Australia can be fined or forced to compensate victims if they don’t do enough to prevent and respond to scam activity.”

14] “Singapore’s protections are among the strictest. Under the government’s Shared Responsibility Framework..”

***. “…in a letter last week to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the lack of identification for coin holders could allow “bad actors, including authoritarian governments and companies they control, to enrich the Trump family”. and gain leverage over the president’s policy decisions. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told the Post that the coin was “the most corrupt thing a president has ever done.” [ Drew Harwell, Jeremy Merrill, Chris Dehghanpoor, Carol Leonnig: “Cryptocurrency investors buy an evening with Trump”; Washington Post; 5/21/25 ]

15]. “The U.s. makes piecemeal attempts to teach law enforcement agents how to respond to scams, but requirements vary across agencies. And in the U.S., victims are generally only reimbursed if the money is taken from their accounts without their authorization, not if they were tricked..”

17]. “Unlike bank deposits, crypto assets are not backed by federal insurance, and so if an exchange fails, the money can be lost… Most significantly, many cryptocurrency exchanges operate across borders and through offshore entities where U.s. laws may not apply.”

20]. “FBI Financial Crimes Section assistant chief Rebecca Keithly..said tens of billons of dollars flow out of the U.S. economy through scams…The FBI said it receives nearly 3,000 internet crime complaints a day..”

***. ‘..a diffuse but stunningly effective influence operation that turned mr. Trump from an outspoken Bitcoin skeptic into crypto’s most important supporter. Virtually every step of Mr. Trump’s transformation has been steered by the industry.” [ David Yaffe-Bellany, Kenneth Vogel: “Crypto Perfects Art of the Spiel To Sway Trump”; New York Times; 7/13/25 ]