JPMorganChase gives $14 million to anti-scam groups

• Key Insight: America’s largest bank has donated $14 million to organizations battling scams, indicating how seriously the bank takes the growing problem of fraud in the U.S.
• Supporting Data: In 2025, Americans lost $15.9 billion to fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
• Expert Quote: “The quality of the scam, the fake, the social engineering is much, much better than it was previously.” — Clark Frogley, former FBI investigator

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In the latest example of a bank sounding the alarm on the surge of scams facing Americans, JPMorganChase has announced that it’s donating $14 million to anti-fraud organizations.

America’s largest bank said it’s dividing the largesse between seven organizations, including the Stop Scams Alliance, Prosperity Now and the Older Adults Technology Services from AARP, among other groups.

“At JPMorganChase, we believe everyone deserves the tools and support to protect what they’ve worked so hard to build,” Mercedeh Mortazavi, JPMorgan’s head of financial health, said in a statement. “By supporting these impactful organizations, we’re investing in innovative solutions and community-driven programs that empower those most at risk.”

Scams are a serious and growing problem in the U.S. Americans lost a total of $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, according to the Federal Trade Commission, up from $12.5 billion in 2024 — and that’s only what’s reported. The FTC estimates that the true total is much higher.

Experts say that’s not because Americans are becoming more gullible, but because scammers — particularly as they increase their use of new technologies, including AI — are growing more effective.

“I think the reason it goes up is because the level of sophistication has gone up dramatically,” Clark Frogley, a former FBI investigator and head of fraud solutions at the data analytics company Quantexa, told American Banker. “The quality of the scam, the fake, the social engineering is much, much better than it was previously.”

These losses are costly not only for consumers, but also for their banks. In some cases, lenders are forced to reimburse their customers. But less directly, costs also come in the form of reputational harm, compliance reporting efforts and, in some cases, lawsuits from the scammed customers.

In JPMorgan’s case, according to its own annual report, the company’s consumer bank lost $500 million to fraud in 2024, including $200 million in reimbursements to defrauded customers. So the bank has plenty of incentive to battle scams. 

“Nobody wants to be the bank whose customers are constantly being targeted and become victims of scams,” Frogley said. “They want a good reputation, but they also want people to feel like, ‘Your money is safe with us.'”

Late last year, JPMorgan launched what it said was the largest anti-fraud initiative in its history. The program included the rollout of new technology to detect suspicious activity, scam interruption teams developed by psychologists and investigators, and a new feature by which customers could add “trusted contacts” to be notified of red-flag transactions.

Now the bank is directing its anti-scam efforts outward, this time by helping other organizations. 

“Across the firm, we’re continuously investing in new technologies and better education to protect our customers — and we’re extending that mission into the communities where we live and work,” Ryan Loftus, the bank’s head of trust and security, said in a statement. “By partnering with public, private, and nonprofit organizations, we’re delivering meaningful outcomes today and building a stronger, more resilient financial ecosystem.”

In addition to nonprofits, JPMorgan also gave some of the $14 million to the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector. The government agency, JPMorgan said, is launching a program called StopScamsSF, which will use scam monitoring, public messaging and financial counseling to protect citizens.

As AI gives scammers the ability to use deepfake videos and other high-tech tools of deception, Frogley said, banks and law enforcement are “always playing catch-up.” Catching the fraudsters requires gathering large amounts of data and connecting the dots, so the more anti-scam organizations have plenty of funding, the better.

“The fact that JPMorgan wants to fund groups that are focused on this, that are trying to bring awareness to it, I think is probably a good thing,” Frogley said. “The whole world is going to have to come together on this.”