Trump administration overlooks online fraud amid tariff focus
One of the driving forces behind much of what the Trump administration has been doing during its first 60 days in office is the belief that other countries have been mistreating America for a long time. Agree or disagree with that fundamental principle, no one can say Trump hasn’t been consistent about it. It has underpinned everything he does from trade to foreign affairs to immigration.
Neither can anyone say his administration has not been thorough on pursuing its agenda. Those efforts have a blind-spot, however. For lack of a better word, the Trump administration’s approach belies a preponderance of 20th century thinking.
Trump and his administration have been focusing on things such as trade and military alliances, industrial production, and the movement of people. Those are all real, and they are important parts of our economy, even our culture. But there has been another place America has been getting taken advantage of — in a very 21st century way.
Last year, Americans lost over $12.5 billion to international online fraudsters. Some of the bad guys are overseas criminals, some are foreign governments, and some are a blend of the two — online privateers of the new millennium.
The Biden administration could have done something about the problem before now. There are, after all, many tools at a president’s disposal that could be brought to bear. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — which by definition is supposed to protect consumers — the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section, for example, could have all been working on this.
The Biden administration chose to use those tools, and others to wage a culture war instead. The CFPB, for example, under the leadership of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) disciple Rohit Chopra, chose to do things such as threaten banks for not lending to illegal immigrants, instead of trying to protect consumers from things like online fraud.
When I took over as acting director of the CFPB in 2017, online theft existed, but it wasn't as massive a threat as it is today. Online fraud went from $3.3 billion in 2020 to today’s staggering $12.5 billion. In 2017 — during President Trump’s first term — it was a mere tenth of that.
And the problem is likely worse than it looks: many industry experts will tell you that the actual amount of fraud is much higher, since victims are often too embarrassed to come forward. Many are not even aware that they have been victimized until long after the actual theft.
President Trump is right to be concerned about lost jobs and closed factories caused by dishonest competitors. But $12.5 billion in theft from our citizens is just as devastating as factory closings and wasted foreign aid. Americans of all ages and all backgrounds are being ripped off on a scale we’ve never seen before.
The latest fraud trend is so-called “pig-butchering,” where fraudsters in places like Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe “fatten up” a victim by earning their trust online over the course of weeks or months, before “butchering” them for as much money as possible.
According to media reports, the perpetrators tend to be professional international criminal cartels. Their American victims come from all walks of life, including sophisticated investors, scientists and even a bank CEO. And contrary to stereotypes, recent surveys show that the young and tech-savvy are even more likely to be defrauded than older generations.
The steps Trump has taken so far at places such as the CFPB have laid the foundation for doing something about this new form of theft. He fired Chopra, sent the team from the Department of Government Efficiency to review the Bureau’s activities, and put Russ Vought and Mark Paoletta in charge temporarily while his permanent nominee for the director’s position, Jonathan McKernan, goes through Senate confirmation.
Moves such as these give one hope that, until Congress sees fit to shutter the CFPB entirely, the Bureau will focus on actually protecting consumers from things like online fraud.
Beyond that, Trump could use his uniquely assertive foreign policy to force countries like Myanmar and the Philippines to crack down on the fraudsters in their countries, just as he successfully forced Mexico to turn over drug cartel bosses.
The explosion of international fraud schemes under the Biden administration was alarming, and it left thousands of Americans financially ruined. As Trump works to restore America’s place on the world stage, he should seek to hold overseas thieves — whether they be individuals, gangs or governments — accountable.
Online fraud is just as much a threat to our prosperity as bad trade deals, open borders, or unbalanced military alliances. Indeed, if you are one of the 38 percent of Americans who have been defrauded, it is more of a threat.
Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina, is a contributor to NewsNation. He served as director of the Office of Management and Budget, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump.