Turning Insight into Action: New Tools Support a Global Response to Online Scams
Online scams are a type of fraud where criminals use digital channels to manipulate or deceive individuals into authorising payments to a recipient they believe, in good faith, to be legitimate.
Advances in digital technology have made this easier than ever. Scammers – often working within global crime networks – can now reach far more potential victims. And scam tactics have grown increasingly sophisticated, with AI tools enabling deepfakes, voice clones, and synthetic IDs to allow criminals to impersonate organisations or even loved ones, applying psychological pressure to push people into acting fast.
The result is that online scams now spread faster and appear more convincing, making it much harder for consumers to know who they can trust.
While progress has been made in responding to this global crisis, global solutions can only succeed if every nation plays its part.
Protecting consumers in this fast-changing landscape requires harmonised global efforts, underpinned by strong national action. To support governments, consumer organisations and industry in building strategies, infrastructure, and partnerships needed for effective cross-border solutions, we have developed two new tools to guide their response: a Global Action Agenda to Protect Consumers from Online Scams and the Consumers International Scams Barometer.
Both products have been developed with our Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams – a community of 40 consumer organisations, business and consumer protection authorities – and can be used by governments, industry, and consumer advocates to design, benchmark and inform their efforts to protect consumers from online scams.
The Plan: A Global Action Agenda to Protect Consumers from Online Scams
At the heart of this is the need for the international community to align on and follow a common plan. Online scams operate like a pandemic, spreading rapidly and exploiting the weakest points between systems.
To assist governments in identifying and closing these gaps, our Global Action Agenda to Protect Consumers from Online Scams provides a set of core principles and a checklist of practical policy actions that together will better protect citizens and contribute to a stronger, more coordinated global response.
Shaped with input from a multi-stakeholder working group and endorsed by 25 organisations in our Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams, the Global Action Agenda helps governments build the strong national foundations that are essential for global protection. It can be used by any government, at any stage of its journey toward safer digital marketplaces.
The Signal: The Consumers International Scams Barometer
While the Global Action Agenda provides the plan, the Consumers International Scams Barometer provides the signals from consumer advocates as to how the global response to online scams is evolving.
It has been built in part by surveying representatives in our Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams – the only global initiative built with consumer representatives that is dedicated to tackling online scams – offering a consumer-driven perspective to help inform advocacy and industry strategies.
The inaugural edition of the Scams Barometer shows that:
- Scams activity is on the rise: 71% of our Coalition says that scam activity has slightly or significantly increased in their country or region.
- Action is taking shape: in the past six months, 67% of those surveyed have started new scam prevention initiatives, and 54% formed new partnerships to address scams.
- Gaps remain in reporting and redress: Only 42% of our Coalition believe that consumers are aware of where and how to report scams or seek redress.
The Scams Barometer also spotlights efforts underway by leaders in our Coalition in areas such as scams prevention and detection, consumer empowerment and defence, scams reporting, and recovery and deterrence.
Going forward, the Scams Barometer will track global progress against these and other metrics, publishing its findings every six months, ensuring sustained focus on both the scams environment and the solutions that work to support consumers.
The Road Ahead: From Evidence to Action
Online scams are not inevitable. They thrive in the gaps between systems, sectors, regulations and enforcement – but those same gaps can be closed.
As Helena Leurent, Director General of Consumers International, puts it:
“We know action is happening, but it’s not yet making the difference consumers need. From today, we’re equipping governments, consumer advocates and industry with tools to build strategies, infrastructure and partnerships that support effective cross-border solutions to online scams.”
We invite governments, consumer advocates and businesses to join our efforts to fight online scams, ensuring a safer environment for consumers worldwide.