The Growing Case for Collaboration to Combat Scams
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Fraud and scams have rapidly evolved alongside advancements in online platforms, becoming a persistent threat to individuals, businesses, and the broader digital economy. It’s clear that this is not a problem one company or even one industry can solve alone. At Cash App, we recognize the growing need for collective action and cross-industry collaboration to address these challenges effectively. As the industry continues to observe the challenges and issues social media platforms face pertaining to scams, it’s critical that we continue to focus deeply on the lifecycle of scams: to understand where they originate, how they evolve, and most importantly what can be done to stop them before they reach their final stages.
The Lifecycle of a Scam: Where Do They Begin?
Through extensive research and real-world insights laid out in Cash App’s white paper on scams, we’ve identified that scams rarely begin within payment ecosystems themselves. Instead, they typically originate on external platforms, taking advantage of gaps in verification, regulation, and cross-platform enforcement. Below, we highlight key origins and trends across the scam lifecycle:
- Social Media: Social media platforms are a primary breeding ground for scams. Our data shows that 56% of confirmed scams on Cash App originate on social platforms (30% on Facebook, 11% on Instagram, and 15% from other social media platforms), making them the leading origin of scams. Additionally, 18% of scams originated via phone calls or text messages, and 16% were linked to online marketplaces. Fraudulent posts often include fake giveaways, counterfeit ads for goods and services, or impersonations of legitimate brands or influencers.
- Messaging Apps and Communication Channels: Scammers leverage emails, text messages (SMS), and direct message apps to establish trust and escalate their schemes. These tactics often include phishing links, urgent requests for personal information, and impersonation of entities like government agencies, family members, or known businesses.
- Online Marketplaces: Classified platforms and peer-to-peer marketplaces provide scammers with an easy way to present “too-good-to-be-true” deals. Fake listings with enticing prices lure victims into upfront payments, often with no safeguards to ensure legitimacy.
- Emerging Technologies and Tools: Scammers now deploy advanced AI tools to automate phishing and generate convincing fake personas or deepfake media.
- Psychological Manipulation: Scammers exploit emotions such as urgency, fear, and trust to pressure their victims. Techniques like romance scams or investment fraud take weeks or months to build trust before exploiting victims financially.
Why Collaboration is Non-Negotiable
No single organization or industry can eradicate scams independently, and the scope of this issue calls for cooperative solutions. A scam often starts on one platform, gathers steam on another, and ends with the transaction elsewhere. Without a unified effort to address the problem, scammers will continue exploiting these fragmented systems. Platforms with extensive customer bases, like social media companies and digital marketplaces, are uniquely positioned to make an immediate impact.
The current scale and sophistication of fraud underline the need for:
- Real-Time Threat Sharing: Creating coalitions across industries to identify and report suspicious patterns rapidly.
- Consumer Education: Providing targeted campaigns to educate the public on identifying scams at each stage of their lifecycle.
- More Accountability and Responsibility: Certain platforms, such as social media and digital marketplaces, must take greater accountability in addressing scam activity. By enforcing stricter safeguards and better moderation, these platforms can help disrupt scams where they most often originate.
The Industry Call to Action
At Cash App, we remain committed to working with partners across industries to disrupt scams at their source and protect users well before a payment is initiated. But we know that no single solution will suffice. Only through collective accountability and action can we create a safer, more trusted digital ecosystem for everyone.
Author
Block
Tags
Fraud and scams have rapidly evolved alongside advancements in online platforms, becoming a persistent threat to individuals, businesses, and the broader digital economy. It’s clear that this is not a problem one company or even one industry can solve alone. At Cash App, we recognize the growing need for collective action and cross-industry collaboration to address these challenges effectively. As the industry continues to observe the challenges and issues social media platforms face pertaining to scams, it’s critical that we continue to focus deeply on the lifecycle of scams: to understand where they originate, how they evolve, and most importantly what can be done to stop them before they reach their final stages.
The Lifecycle of a Scam: Where Do They Begin?
Through extensive research and real-world insights laid out in Cash App’s white paper on scams, we’ve identified that scams rarely begin within payment ecosystems themselves. Instead, they typically originate on external platforms, taking advantage of gaps in verification, regulation, and cross-platform enforcement. Below, we highlight key origins and trends across the scam lifecycle:
- Social Media: Social media platforms are a primary breeding ground for scams. Our data shows that 56% of confirmed scams on Cash App originate on social platforms (30% on Facebook, 11% on Instagram, and 15% from other social media platforms), making them the leading origin of scams. Additionally, 18% of scams originated via phone calls or text messages, and 16% were linked to online marketplaces. Fraudulent posts often include fake giveaways, counterfeit ads for goods and services, or impersonations of legitimate brands or influencers.
- Messaging Apps and Communication Channels: Scammers leverage emails, text messages (SMS), and direct message apps to establish trust and escalate their schemes. These tactics often include phishing links, urgent requests for personal information, and impersonation of entities like government agencies, family members, or known businesses.
- Online Marketplaces: Classified platforms and peer-to-peer marketplaces provide scammers with an easy way to present “too-good-to-be-true” deals. Fake listings with enticing prices lure victims into upfront payments, often with no safeguards to ensure legitimacy.
- Emerging Technologies and Tools: Scammers now deploy advanced AI tools to automate phishing and generate convincing fake personas or deepfake media.
- Psychological Manipulation: Scammers exploit emotions such as urgency, fear, and trust to pressure their victims. Techniques like romance scams or investment fraud take weeks or months to build trust before exploiting victims financially.
Why Collaboration is Non-Negotiable
No single organization or industry can eradicate scams independently, and the scope of this issue calls for cooperative solutions. A scam often starts on one platform, gathers steam on another, and ends with the transaction elsewhere. Without a unified effort to address the problem, scammers will continue exploiting these fragmented systems. Platforms with extensive customer bases, like social media companies and digital marketplaces, are uniquely positioned to make an immediate impact.
The current scale and sophistication of fraud underline the need for:
- Real-Time Threat Sharing: Creating coalitions across industries to identify and report suspicious patterns rapidly.
- Consumer Education: Providing targeted campaigns to educate the public on identifying scams at each stage of their lifecycle.
- More Accountability and Responsibility: Certain platforms, such as social media and digital marketplaces, must take greater accountability in addressing scam activity. By enforcing stricter safeguards and better moderation, these platforms can help disrupt scams where they most often originate.
The Industry Call to Action
At Cash App, we remain committed to working with partners across industries to disrupt scams at their source and protect users well before a payment is initiated. But we know that no single solution will suffice. Only through collective accountability and action can we create a safer, more trusted digital ecosystem for everyone.