President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department recently announced that it’s giving banks new data-sharing tools to track international fraud and other forms of illicit activity.
From my time as a senior FBI official, I believe it’s about time. Banks have needed these tools for far too long, and good on the Trump administration for recognizing as much.
Modern fraud networks are sophisticated, international, and increasingly intertwined with immigration fraud, cartel activity, and even financing terrorism.
These days, stopping fraud is a matter of global security waged against dangerous transnational actors like Mexican drug cartels. And Democrats like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have been asleep at the wheel, allowing untold millions to vanish overseas.
Americans lose hundreds of billions of dollars to fraud every year. Between 2019 and 2023 alone, thousands of Americans reported losing nearly $300 million to Mexican timeshare fraud schemes, where international fraudsters trick customers into buying fake timeshares.
These scams funnel cash into murderous drug cartels that are often run by the cartels themselves. The hard-earned money of American vacationers is thus used to smuggle heroin or purchase more guns for criminals.
The United States needs a coordinated policy that can match and take down these criminals. That’s why the Trump administration’s attention on this issue is so important.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s new measure allows banks to share customer surveillance footage and cyber data without fear of lawsuits or regulatory backlash.
The administration is also taking a targeted approach where necessary. Treasury officials recently imposed additional reporting requirements in several Minnesota counties that have experienced significant fraud concerns. Financial institutions in those areas must now report certain international cash transactions, helping investigators track suspicious money flows and identify potential criminal activity.
The Trump administration has plenty of reason to worry about Minnesota. Walz ignored warnings about mass-scale fraud for years and retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to expose the problem. Many of these schemes were concentrated within Minnesota’s Somali community and some taxpayer dollars got diverted to terrorist networks overseas.
Minnesota is hardly alone. Across the country, criminal networks are becoming more sophisticated, leveraging technology, international financial systems, and porous borders to move money and evade detection. Fraud today is rarely confined to a single city or state. It is increasingly a transnational enterprise.
The administration recognizes that reality. Earlier this year, FinCEN issued additional orders aimed at helping law enforcement combat money laundering and other illicit financial activity linked to Mexican cartels operating along the southwest border. Those efforts complement broader initiatives designed to strengthen financial intelligence and disrupt criminal networks before they can expand.
There is a reason Trump appointed Vice President JD Vance to chair a White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. Organized fraud rings have become a national problem requiring a national response. Whether the perpetrators are operating from Mexico, Somalia, Southeast Asia, or elsewhere, the objective should be the same: identify them, disrupt them, and prevent them from victimizing American families.
For years, Washington treated fraud as little more than a consumer complaint. The Trump administration understands that it has become something far more serious. When stolen American dollars can help finance cartels, enrich transnational criminal organizations, and threaten national security, fighting fraud is no longer just about protecting consumers. It is about protecting the country itself.
In our nation’s 250th year, it’s hard to imagine a more important task for our federal government.
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Gayle Trotter (@GayleTrotter) is an attorney and conservative commentator. She is a former special counsel to Federal Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Dan Bongino and hosts The Gayle Trotter Show: RIGHT in DC podcast.
