Stop Scams Alliance
Protecting Consumers by Stopping Scams at the Source
Why do we exist?
US consumers are under attack by organized crime gangs who are using sophisticated tech-based methods to steal hundreds of billions of dollars from Americans. We need to unite and fight against this threat, which has grown dramatically in recent years.
How to fight back? Public-private partnership and cross-sector cooperation can make a difference. Stop Scams Alliance works to create a comprehensive, systemic approach that brings together technology, telecom, financial institutions, consumer advocacy groups, and government.
We focus on finding solutions to stop scams at the source, before they hit the consumer or the banks.
Washington Post: Scams are on the rise, and they’re ruining lives. We can stop it.
Listen to the origin story of Stop Scams Alliance on the Scam Rangers podcast.
According to a 2023 Gallup poll and FBI and FTC data:
21 million
Annual fraud victims in the US*
—That’s more than 57,000 per day
$100+ billion
Annual losses in the US**
--Total cost to society is higher yet
$14,000+
Average loss per victim***
—Average loss for seniors: $35,101. Some lose millions
—The emotional toll: incalculable
Losses are skyrocketing:
1,462% (15-fold) increase in losses reported to the FBI since 2014; reported losses ballooned 22 percent between 2022 and 2023
2023 AARP Poll: Two-thirds of Americans say that scams are at a crisis level
Gallup poll: Scams are Americans’ second-highest crime victimization concern, with 57% saying they frequently or occasionally worry about it happening to them
Artificial Intelligence is about to make things much worse
• FTC Chair Lina Khan: AI could "turbocharge" fraud
*According to a Gallup poll of 1,009 Americans that was conducted between 2-23 October 2023. The number of victims who reported to the US government is far fewer, about 3 to 4 percent of the victims identified in the Gallup poll. In 2023, the FBI received 880,418 reports from fraud victims; in 2023 the FTC received 690,984 reports with a $ loss.
**The FTC used two different methodologies for estimating total losses for US consumers in 2022, accounting for the rate of under reporting. Source: Protecting Older Consumers 2022-2023, A report of the Federal Trade Commission, October 18, 2023. (pp. 39-40) A “very conservative” $20.5 billion estimate assumed almost all fraud was reported, whereas the higher $137.4 billion estimate assumed low reporting rates by victims. The recent Gallup poll revealed very low reporting rates, so the $137 billion estimate is probably more accurate. In addition, a February 2024 research report from Feedzai and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) found that scams cost US consumers $159 billion in 2023.
***The average reported loss in the FBI’s report was $14,198 in 2023; the average reported loss in the FTC’s report was $14,500 in 2023. The FBI reports that in 2022, the average reported dollar loss for victims over the age of 60 was $35,101.