Payment Fraud Archive

Policy Briefs, Reports, & Press Releases

• Issue Brief: What is Operation Choke Point?: Stopping Banks from Helping Scammers Raid Your Bank Account, May 2015
• Press release: Lauren Saunders on Operation Choke Point before House Judiciary Subcommittee, May 19, 2015
• Press release: U.S. DOJ Chokes Scammers’ Bank, March 10, 2015
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud FTC Rule Banning Payment Devices Used by Scammers, Nov. 19, 2015
• Press Release: Banks Shirking Duty to Stop Unauthorized Debits: Advocates urge bank regulators to take action, Sept. 29, 2014
• Lauren Saunders OpEd in The Hill: Choking Illegal Payments Helps Everyone, July 9, 2014
• Press release: Supreme Court Decision Strikes Blow against Tribal Online Payday Lenders, May 29, 2014
• Op-Ed in The Hill: Is Operation Choke Point to blame for bank account closures?, April 30, 2015
• Press release: Four Oaks Bank slapped for aiding illegal payday lending, April 25, 2014

Comments and Testimony

• Consumer comments supporting NACHA proposal to require registration of payment processors, Oct. 9, 2015.
• EGRPRA comments on Check Hold Times (Reg CC) and CRA, May 14, 2015.
• Testimony of Lauren Saunders before the House Financial Services Committee on Examining Regulatory Relief Proposals for Community Financial Institutions, Part II (July 15, 2014), discussing support for Operation Choke Point and opposition to H.R. 4986 (Luetkemeyer)
• Comments to California on the role of payment devices in making payday loans, May 19, 2014
• Testimony of Lauren Saunders before the U.S. Financial Services Committeee on Operation Choke Point , July 15, 2014
• Group comments re: Operating Rules Amendments to Improve Network Quality to NACHA, Jan. 13, 2014
• Comments urging Fed to ban remotely created checks, Dec. 13, 2013
• NCLC and AFR coalition comments to FTC supporting proposal to ban certain forms of payment in telemarketing sales, Aug. 8, 2013

Letters

• Letter opposing H.R. 2706 (Luetkemeyer), Financial Institution Consumer Protection Act of 2017, which will make it harder for regulators to address payment fraud, Oct. 10, 2017
• Group letter to U.S. House opposing H.R. 766 (Luetkemeyer) the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015, Feb. 2, 2016
• Op-Ed in The Hill: Is Operation Choke Point to blame for bank account closures?, April 30, 2015
• Coalition Letter Opposing Bills to Curtail Operation Choke Point and Payment Fraud Efforts (April 27, 2015)
• Coalition letter to ​U.S. ​Senate opposing budget amendments to curtail Operation Choke Point or regulator anti-money laundering efforts​, Mar. 25, 2015​.
• Letter to U.S. House opposing H.R. 4986 (Luetkemeyer), End Operation Choke Point Act of 2014, July 31, 2014
• Coalition letter to U.S. House on Operation Choke Point, July 15, 2014
• Lauren Saunders OpEd in The Hill: Choking Illegal Payments Helps Everyone, July 9, 2014
• Letters to House (July 15, 2014) and Senate (June 18, 2014) supporting Operation Choke Point and work against payment fraud
• Letter to U.S. Department of Justice applauding Four Oaks case and work against payment fraud, Jan. 14, 2014
• Press Release and Group letter to regulators on need to stop illegal payments, Oct. 24, 2013

Additional External Resources

• Testimony of Georgetown Law Professor Adam Levitin before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Operation Choke Point, July 17, 2014,
• Written testimony of NACA attorney Howard Langer to members of U.S. House Judiciary Committee re Operation Choke Point, July 15, 2014
• Holding Accountable Financial Institutions that Knowingly Participate in Consumer Fraud, U.S. Department of Justice, May 7, 2014
• Bicameral Group of Members Urge DOJ to Crack Down on Consumer Scams, February 6, 2014
• Justice Department Inquiry Takes Aim at Banks’ Business with Payday Lenders, New York Times, Jan. 26, 2014
• Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers, New York Times, June 10, 2013

Government and Regulatory Actions

Operation Choke Point Cases:

• United States v. Godfrey
• United States v. Plaza Bank
• United States v. CommerceWest Bank
• United States v. Four Oaks Bank and Trust

CFPB Takes Action Against Global Client Solutions for Processing Illegal Debt-Settlement Fees, Aug. 25, 2014,

FTC Settlements Crack Down on Payment Processing Operation that Enabled ‘Google Money Tree’ Scammers to Charge Consumers $15 Million in Hidden Fees [Process America], Nov. 18, 2013,

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