Nasdaq's CEO wants banks, tech firms, phone companies and police to act together on fraud, as scams increasingly play on love and fear.
Adena Friedman, the chair and CEO of Nasdaq, is asking for a National Fraud Strategy in the US. She says fraud is too big for any one bank or company to handle alone. Nasdaq Verafin estimates global fraud losses reached $579.4 billion in 2025. About $62 billion of that came from scams.
Friedman made the case at an American Banker event on Tuesday. She argued that sharing information, agreeing on common best practices and creating legal safe harbors could help. The idea is to connect banks, technology companies, phone and internet providers, payment networks and law enforcement. The goal is to disrupt criminal activity earlier, before a victim sends money.
"This challenge is simply too large and evolving too quickly for any single institution to solve alone," Friedman said.
Greg Williamson of Nasdaq Verafin says AI is changing the economics of fraud. Verafin works with 2,800 financial institutions across North America. Criminals use AI to automate attacks and tailor scams to more people. As banks tighten security, scammers more often trick people into handing over login details or approving payments themselves.
Williamson also sees a shift toward scams built on an emotional plea, such as love or fear. Scammers use public details about a person's relationships, finances and family. Schemes can start with fake online listings, romance scams, fraudulent investments or impersonation on social media.
Another worry is fraud-as-a-service. Criminals can outsource parts of a scam operation, which makes it easier for almost anyone to start one.
Friedman's plan would build on existing public and private efforts. It could also work alongside the national anti-money laundering framework, which the administration is working to modernize. The hard part is turning coordination into action. That includes deciding how organizations can share information responsibly and step in before money disappears.
The material does not say who would lead a national strategy, when it could start or whether lawmakers and agencies will back it.
Until any national plan exists, the first defense is the person holding the phone. A message that feels personal may only reflect details scammers pulled from public sources.
Scammers now target emotions, so pause before sending money when a message pushes urgency, love or fear, even if it seems personal.
North Dakota lawmakers are looking at HB 1447, a bill meant to help prevent crypto fraud, and AARP wants residents to speak up.
Read more: North Dakota weighs a bill to curb crypto scamsA user says Anthropic's Claude Code put his email in web requests, then scam messages arrived. The link is unproven, but it shows what AI tools can share.
Read more: User says Claude Code sent his email address to websitesA fake call in Truro, Canada, sent a police tactical team to a woman's home. An RCMP officer now shares plain rules for spotting phone scams.
Read more: Canadian police share simple rules to beat phone scammers
