Global Anti-Scam Alliance Launches on Blue Monday
The day most people discover they have been scammed
AMSTERDAM, January 17, 2022 (Newswire.com) - The third Monday of the year is often named as the most depressing day of the year. It is also the most common day of disappointment for victims of online scams as websites like ScamAdviser.com receive the most scam reports from consumers.
Blue Monday Is Scam Report Monday
When Christmas shoppers order from a scam store, it usually takes them several weeks to discover that they have truly been scammed. The first complaints are sent to the online store on the 25th of December when the ordered gifts have not arrived.
Three to four weeks later, after sending numerous reminders, it finally sinks in: the Christmas packages were never sent and will never arrive. That is the time when most consumers start to report the scam to review and scam reporting sites.
ScamAdviser, for example, reported an increase of 24% in traffic last week compared to the week before Christmas.
Scammers Are Winning
According to a previous study, $47.8 billion were lost in scams worldwide last year. Globally, law enforcement received 266 million reports from scam victims.
According to the same study, scammers are winning at the moment. As only 7% of all scams are reported to the police and scammers spread their frauds across tens of countries and sometimes hundreds of websites, their activities remain invisible to law enforcement for a long time.
Launch of GASA
To protect consumers worldwide from scams, Trend Micro, Group IB, EverC, EBRAND, EuroDNS and ScamAdviser are launching the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, short GASA.
The goal of GASA is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and insights related to online scams amongst both commercial organizations as well as law enforcement, consumer protection authorities, NGOs, and the scientific community.
Apart from the six founding members, 50+ organizations are supporting the non-profit. Knowledge sharing has proven crucial to identify, investigate and apprehend scams faster, and this will be the primary activity of GASA.
More information about GASA can be found at www.gasa.org.
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Source: Global Anti-Scam Alliance
