The "Taskforce for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams Act," or TRAPS Act, mandates the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a Task Force on Payment Scams within 90 days of enactment. This Task Force will be chaired by the Secretary or a designee and will include representatives from key federal agencies such as the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve System. It will also incorporate experts from financial institutions, credit unions, digital payment networks, community banks, consumer groups, technology platforms, and representatives for scam victims.

The primary purpose of the Task Force is to examine current trends in payment scams, identify effective prevention methods, and issue recommendations to enhance efforts against these activities. It is designed to adopt a cross-sector approach, ensuring its recommendations address the broad impact of scams across financial services, telecommunications, and technology industries. The Task Force will also ensure representation from stakeholders directly supporting scam victims and industry participants with insights into scam tactics.

The duties of the Task Force are comprehensive, including evaluating best practices for combating methods like spoofed calls and malicious websites, assessing international prevention strategies, and identifying current scamming methods on payment platforms. It will develop a strategy for consumer education programs to help individuals identify, avoid, and report payment scam attempts. Furthermore, the Task Force will coordinate efforts to ensure perpetrators are identified and pursued by law enforcement, consult with various stakeholders, and determine if additional federal legislation is needed to mitigate payment scams, including those involving business email compromise.

Within one year of its establishment, the Task Force must submit a detailed report to Congress, which will also be made publicly available online. This report will outline the results of its evaluations, identified strategies, and any legislative or regulatory recommendations to enhance scam detection and prevention. The Task Force is required to provide annual updates to this report and will terminate three years after submitting its initial report.