Loophole In The Consumer Protection Law Costing Consumers Billions

The Electronic Funds Transfer Act – passed in 1978 – is meant to protect U.S. consumers from being defrauded when they make a transaction via an ATM, debit card or direct deposit or by point-of-sale and phone transactions. But the law makes an exception for wire transfers. And in recent years, wire fraud has exploded as scammers are making use of the loophole. According to the FBI, its Internet Crime Complaint Center received reports of this type of fraud totaling $2.4 billion in losses in 2021. Reset sat down with Stephanie Zimmermann, consumer investigations reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, to learn more.