Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams
Driving Resilience in the Digital Marketplace
Scams – when consumers are manipulated into authorising financial transactions or revealing sensitive information – are spreading rapidly across web-based platforms worldwide, causing significant economic loss and psychological and emotional distress.
In 2019, our research warned that fragmented action would accelerate scams. Today, this has become reality.
Scams are also growing more sophisticated and coordinated. Criminal networks operate across platforms and borders and are increasingly using artificial intelligence to scale deception and exploit gaps in enforcement. Meanwhile, responses to scams remain mainly isolated and reactive.
To protect consumers, we need a unified approach. Stronger governance, coordinated enforcement, and solutions built around consumer safety must be at the heart of the response.
Our Vision
The digital economy is the fast-growing growing ecosystem of online platforms, services, and technologies. For it to thrive, consumers must feel confident that it is safe and trustworthy. A secure and resilient digital marketplace where people are protected from scams is an essential part of this.
That’s why Consumers International created the Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams, the only global initiative built with and for consumers and dedicated to tackling online scams.
Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams
In 2023, we established the Consumer Coalition to Stop Scams to do what no single actor can: connect the real consumer experience of scams with the systems and decision-makers shaping the global response.
It is open to our Members, government, subject matter experts, and global businesses dedicated to disrupting the channels used by criminals to target consumers. This includes sectors such as telecommunications, e-commerce, card services, payment providers, and financial institutions.
Consumers International Members who are in the Coalition include:
What does the Coalition do?
Building evidence to strengthen responses
Behind every statistic is a person. The Coalition takes those real experiences and turns them into better responses to scams.
To do so, we bring together organisations to share intelligence on emerging scam tactics, discuss what is working, and identify gaps in current responses. For example, the Coalition runs quarterly ‘Hear & Now’ meetings with participants so that they can compare insights and coordinate their approaches.
Designing responses across the scam life cycle
Protecting consumers from scams means tackling scams at every stage in its life cycle. A dedicated working group designs consumer-focused proposals for policymakers that address every stage of the scam journey:
- Prevention – reducing exposure through better platform design, education, and awareness
- Detection & Disruption – blocking fraudulent payments and removing harmful content
- Support & Redress – enabling recovery and restoring trust for those affected
This end-to-end approach ensures that responses to scams are coordinated, comprehensive, and grounded in consumer realities.
Amplifying consumer voices on the global stage
The Coalition ensures those voices are heard, bringing lived experiences and insights into international discussions at the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), and beyond.
Our Work in Anti-Scams
In 2019, we released our report Social Media Scams: Understanding the Consumer Experience to Create a Safer Digital World. Using research from two years of public conversation monitoring in nine countries and interviews with key stakeholders, the report reveals the growing threat of scams on social platforms and calls for greater cooperation to protect consumers.
We also launched the Global Statement to Stop Online Scams at our 2023 Global Congress in 2023, in collaboration with our Members. Our statement urges governments to enforce stronger protections against the growing threat of scams on technology platforms.
Join us
We invite you to join us in making a meaningful impact on the fight against scams, ensuring a safer environment for consumers worldwide. If you are a business looking to engage in this work and explore the benefits of our Change Network please reach out to partnerships@consint.org.