David Schweikert Calls Upon Phone Carriers, Internet Providers to Crack Down on Scams

Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) urged communication service providers to crack down on phone and internet scams in a recent social media post.

The Context

A recent press release from the United States Treasury announced they had successfully sanctioned nine individuals and 26 entities affiliated with what they call the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization (Prince Group TCO), which runs a massive, worldwide criminal enterprise composed of scam compounds, where they force locals to run online scams in slave-like conditions, along with fraud and money laundering.

Their reach has been vast, encompassing numerous businesses, including real estate, aviation, and luxury cigars, as well as other criminal activities.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared the presser on social media, writing, "Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year. The Trump Administration is united in its efforts to dismantle these overseas criminal enterprises, and Treasury will continue using its tools to disrupt the networks behind this egregious fraud and protect Americans."

Schweikert's Response

Rep. Schweikert replied to Bessent's post, writing, "Criminal networks enslave thousands in overseas scam farms and force them to steal from Americans through calls, texts, and online scams."

"Phone carriers and internet providers must use the technology they have to block these scams before more families lose their life savings," Rep. Schweikert added.

In March, the Arizona congressman chaired a bicameral Joint Economic Committee hearing on combating scams, focusing on how technology can be employed to prevent money from ever being sent to scammers.

"How do we build a model, a technology, a policy, so the money never leaves the individual's account?" Schweikert asked hearing witness Karen Seifert, the Scam Center Strike Force Director.

Seifert suggested that education is a major component, only for Rep. Schweikert to reply that he has "grown very skeptical on the effectiveness of education, considering how manipulative, almost evil, the use of some of the new technology has become."