A safer internet: policy recommendations for fighting scams and fraud together

Online scams can impact anyone - and in recent years they've been on the rise. In the United States alone, more than 21 million people fell victim to fraud last year, while 78% of mobile users experienced at least one scam. Since the earliest days of Google, we have had teams dedicated to protecting users by combating scams and scammers. Unfortunately, scams - often perpetrated by transnational organized crime groups - pose a growing challenge to the Internet, the people who use it and law enforcement authorities around the world. This is why today we are releasing a white paper with policy recommendations for how we can more effectively tackle scams together.

Google has a long history of developing tools and techniques to combat scams and scammers, including by using the latest AI technology. Our teams have developed industry-leading tools that effectively fight back against scammers, including proactively blocking 99.9% of spam and malware on Gmail and blocking dangerous calls on Android and Messages. In 2023 alone, we blocked or removed more than 5.5 billion advertisements for violating our policies, capturing many different scams and tactics. And while we are developing technology to combat these scams, we also regularly file affirmative litigation to stop bad actors and create legal precedent that allow us to act.

But, no single organization can fight scams alone. We're committed to collaborating with others to combat scams and the criminals behind them. In October, we announced a global partnership creating a platform for sharing information about scams and fraud. Teams at Google created a program for expert organizations to report policy violations and launched a pilot partnership in Singapore that has already blocked nearly 900,000 high-risk app installations. And, we just published our first Scams Advisory to highlight the most recent online fraud and scams trends and tactics.

Today, we're sharing policy recommendations and a call to action for how governments, providers like Google, and affected industries can collaborate to fight this threat:

1. Enable cooperation and sharing

To effectively combat the increasingly sophisticated and cross-border nature of online scams, governments should promote information sharing among key stakeholders including law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and tech companies. This information sharing needs to happen not only within individual countries, but across national borders, given that the majority of scams are transnational in nature. Such collaboration will enable governments to more effectively investigate and dismantle criminal scam networks.

Additionally, governments should actively support and contribute to the strengthening of international organizations and initiatives dedicated to combating scams, such as the Global Anti-Scams Alliance (GASA). This includes sharing expertise and intelligence through mechanisms like the new Global Signals Exchange (GSE) co-founded by Google with GASA and DNSRF, and participating in collaborative efforts to develop and implement effective anti-scam strategies and actions on a global scale.

2. Incentivize action across the community

Governments should establish legal frameworks that clearly define scams as illegal activity, and strengthen law enforcement's capacity to act against them. They should also provide appropriate incentives, such as good samaritan protections for companies that take proactive steps to detect, prevent and mitigate scams on their platforms. These protections should also encourage companies to invest in, and use, innovative technologies and solutions to combat scams without fear of undue legal repercussions for actions taken in good faith.

Advancements in AI offer significant potential to enhance scam detection and prevention efforts. Governments and private sector organizations should prioritize investments in the research, development, and deployment of responsible AI technologies that can effectively identify and counter scam threats. This includes AI-powered tools for early detection of scam patterns, proactive identification of fraudulent accounts and activities, and real-time analysis of evolving scam techniques.

3. Invest in education and protection for users

Alongside the policies and product protections that businesses put in place, public education plays a crucial role in empowering individuals to protect themselves from scams. By investing in sustained and targeted awareness campaigns, governments and industry can equip citizens with the knowledge and tools they need to identify and avoid scams, thereby reducing the overall impact of fraudulent activities.

Fighting scams is a team effort. As we go into 2025, we will continue to innovate in tools and techniques to stop bad actors defrauding and deceiving users. We'll also continue our cooperation with others across the industry and governments to ensure we're sharing best practices and intel in the fight against scams, including bringing together stakeholders through a series of summits focused on cross-border enforcement, and stepping up our use of the Global Signal Exchange and other tools.

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