What A Day – "Scam Calls Are Getting Worse: Here's Why"

Host: Jane Coaston (Crooked Media)
Guest: David Dayen, Executive Editor at The American Prospect
Date: November 14, 2025

Overview

This episode delves into the escalating threat of scam calls and other fraudulent financial schemes in the United States, placing them in the context of recent moves by the Trump administration to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Host Jane Coaston interviews David Dayen to unpack why the CFPB is being targeted, what the legal arguments are, and how the agency’s weakening leaves everyday people dangerously exposed to scams. The episode also touches on related tech issues, the wider regulatory landscape, and recent political developments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Trump Administration vs. the CFPB

• The CFPB’s Purpose:

  • Created in 2010, it unified consumer protection regulations previously spread across various agencies, focusing solely on protecting consumers from unfair practices in areas like mortgages, student loans, and auto loans.
    • David Dayen (03:30): “The goal of the CFPB was to put them all in one agency with the sole mission of protecting consumers.”

• Funding Mechanism Under Attack:

  • The Trump administration argues that the CFPB's funding, which comes from Federal Reserve earnings, is now "illegal" because the Fed is operating at a loss. The claim: no surplus means no legal funding for the Bureau.
    • David Dayen (04:29): “To believe this argument, you have to believe that when Congress established the CFPB, it was thinking that we would only regulate consumer protection in years that the Federal Reserve turns a profit... This is a ridiculous argument.”

• Political and Industry Motivation:

  • Ongoing Republican opposition to the CFPB is both ideological and economic: big banks and a new wave of tech companies (e.g., Musk’s X platform) don’t want tight regulatory oversight as they move into fintech and payment services.
    • David Dayen (06:36): “Generally, Republicans side with the big banks over consumers, and this new wrinkle of Silicon Valley wanting to become banks... they don’t want CFPB to regulate them.”

2. The Explosion of Financial Scams

• Current Environment:

  • Scam calls, phishing texts, and digital fraud targeting Americans are ballooning as regulatory oversight wanes.
    • Jane Coaston (08:16): “Online financial scams have seemingly become even more endemic than they were before.”

• CFPB’s Diminished Ability to Respond:

  • With the Bureau largely inactive (“agency in name only”), scams are proliferating. Employees have allegedly been told not to work; enforcement is nearly nonexistent.
    • David Dayen (09:09): “It’s this agency where people just... sit around at home all day, and not a lot goes on. And so scams are proliferating throughout the economy.”

• Potential Danger:

  • Rising personal debt and loan delinquencies mirror pre-2008 crisis conditions, but with no financial watchdog protecting consumers.
    • David Dayen (10:13): “We’re in a situation right now where the debt levels and delinquency levels... are at levels that they were at just around the financial crisis of 2008.”

3. Can Big Tech Self-Regulate?

• Recent Tech Moves:
  • Google sued a Chinese network allegedly enabling scams; Meta reportedly knows about major scam-linked revenue.
• Skepticism About Self-Policing:
  • Companies focused on profit and innovation (especially AI) have little incentive to protect consumers without regulatory oversight.
    • David Dayen (11:02): “Self-regulation really doesn’t work at all... I think it’s a time when people have to be really on guard with the knowledge that there’s not really anybody, at least at the federal level, who’s really protecting them.”

4. Political Gridlock and the Uncertain Future of the CFPB

• Shutdown Deal Twist:
  • New legislation from the recent government shutdown prevents mass layoffs of federal employees. If the CFPB runs out of funds early next year (2026), a legal paradox arises: employees can’t be fired en masse, but the agency can’t pay them either.
    • David Dayen (12:01): “So what do they do? They have to fund these people, they have to keep these people employed, they have to pay these people, but they say they can’t get any money. So it’s this huge dilemma that is going to come to a head probably in the courts.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the absurdity of the legal argument against CFPB funding:

  • David Dayen (05:17): “To not have an agency, to not have a cop on the beat while this massive amount of debt... is growing and growing and growing, is really, really dangerous for people.”

• On scam experiences:

  • Jane Coaston (08:16): “...I don’t know if you’ve gotten a lot more phishing texts... alleging that you have a toll due in a state you’ve never lived in. And it comes from like a plus 44 area code...”
  • David Dayen (08:58): “Jane, you say you’re not driving much in Sao Tome and Principe, or places like that.”

• On states stepping up consumer protection:

  • David Dayen (11:15): “Now some states have stepped up, California and New York and some others. But by and large, there is a big hole, big smoking hole in our consumer financial regulatory structure right now.”

• On regulatory capture and inertia:

  • David Dayen (09:09): “...he has basically told them not to do any work. And so it’s this agency where people just, they don’t even come into the office and they just sort of sit around at home all day...”

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:39] – Jane recaps breaking DOJ lawsuits and critiques the Trump administration’s stance on rising scam calls.
• [03:23] – Interview with David Dayen begins.
• [03:30] – Dayen breaks down the CFPB’s role and funding structure.
• [04:29] – Detailed discussion on the administration’s legal argument to cut CFPB funds.
• [06:36] – Why the right wants to kill the CFPB; tech industry and banking interests.
• [08:16] – Jane and David swap scam call stories; Dayen assesses the effect of a nonfunctional CFPB.
• [10:13] – Comparisons to 2008 financial crisis dangers.
• [11:02] – Big Tech’s self-regulation and consumer risk.
• [12:01] – Shutdown bill’s impact on efforts to axe the CFPB and civil service job security.
• [13:11] – End of interview; Jane’s wrap-up.

Tone and Style

Jane Coaston brings a mix of sharp wit, skepticism, and clear-eyed concern throughout, keeping the conversation relatable with humorous asides and pop-culture analogies. Dayen stays explanatory, occasionally sardonic, especially when critiquing the legal reasoning behind attempts to cripple the CFPB.

• Jane Coaston (16:34): “Concoct something – that’s not how numbers work. The October jobs report is not a witch’s brew.”

Useful for Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode is an urgent primer on why scam calls and financial fraud are ballooning in the US, connecting the dots between political decisions, tech ambitions, and the shaky landscape for consumer protection. It’s essential listening (or reading) for anyone worried about the safety of their money and the state of watchdog agencies.