One Agency Stands Between NC and Fraudsters, and Trump Is Trying to Dismantle It
We cross paths with scammers every day.
They spam our inboxes, shoot us constant texts, and load up our voicemails. They pitch extended warranties. They warn of expiring benefits. They offer magical pills, miracle solutions, and mythical products that, by their account, we can’t afford to live without.
You might be surprised to learn how many of these attempts are successful. In 2023, 1 in 5 Americans lost money due to these scams. The average loss was over $450, and the total loss was over $25 billion. It’s a frighteningly lucrative business.
So what happens if you or a loved one do click that link?
There are a few options, like contacting your credit card company or reaching out to your bank. But sometimes, the scammer IS your bank. Capital One cheated customers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments for one of its savings accounts. And JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo allowed fraud to run rampant on their payment networks.
When all else fails, there’s a government agency that exists with the sole purpose of advocating for consumers, protecting all of us against unjust financial practices– the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
They aren’t flashy. They don’t have a catchy name. But wow, do they deliver results for everyday people. And President Trump is trying to shutter it completely, calling it a “woke, weaponized” agency. Thom Tillis agrees, claiming that the CFPB is “pushing beyond its regulatory and jurisdictional boundaries.”
Trump and Tillis seem to hate the CFPB because the agency is so effective at protecting everyday people against the attacks of MAGA’s wealthiest friends. In North Carolina alone, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fielded over 250,000 complaints by consumers, many of them veterans and seniors. Over 86,000 of those complaints yielded some form of financial relief.
The CFPB created a rule to prevent credit reporting companies from sharing medical debt information– which is often inaccurate– with lenders. 800,000 North Carolinians have medical debt on their credit report, debt that impacts their chances of landing a job or securing a place to live, unavoidable debt that could change the trajectory of a life.
And nationally, the CFPB has returned over $21 billion to consumers. The protections enforced by the CFPB, and their mere existence as a watchdog, may have saved us billions more.
We can’t hold our breath waiting on Trump to develop a moral conscience or Tillis to grow a backbone. But we will do everything we can to advocate for our communities against policymaking that’s clearly meant to indulge the greed of the ultra-wealthy and the dishonest.
It’s why we came together yesterday outside of Tillis’ office to recognize the good that the CFPB does for working people and advocated for protecting the agency from being dismantled.
Dr. Ashley Gaddy, a small business owner, put it best.
If the CFPB is gutted, it won’t be the billionaires who feel it. It’ll be small business owners like me. It’ll be the mom trying to scale her business from the kitchen table. It’ll be the entrepreneur who got denied a loan for a technicality on a credit report. It’ll be us.
Senator Tillis, I’m asking you—on behalf of all of us—to support the people of North Carolina, not the billionaires. Don’t take away one of the few protections we have. Don’t make it harder for us to build something that lasts.
We don’t need less oversight—we need more justice.
