Euroconsumers new survey has revealed that staggering numbers of people face online scams. More than 4 out of 5 of the 4,000 respondents from Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain said they had been exposed to a fraud or scam. 

Scams can be devastating, not just in terms of the money lost but the psychological and emotional impact on a person who can feel angry, ashamed and that they are to blame.

Yet despite the severity of this crime, only 47% of people across the Euroconsumers countries say they have access to a clear process to report and deal with the aftermath of a scam. 

Call for dedicated national centres 

Euroconsumers and the Global Anti Scam Alliance want this to change. At the 2024 Euroconsumers Forum on the 5th December, we launched a joint call to national governments to establish dedicated fraud hotlines. 

As well as providing a simple, centralised point of contact for scam victims, these hotlines must offer or signpost people to the support, guidance, and resources they urgently need in the aftermath of a cybercrime.

The pain of reporting a scam

At the Euroconsumers Forum 2024, we saw upfront how being shunted between banks, police, loan companies and card providers to report and deal with the scam can re-traumatise and re-victimise scam survivors.

Joining a panel of law enforcement officials, industry leaders, financial professionals and victim support groups was Ayleen Charlotte, whose story of a sophisticated romance scam was featured in the Netflix documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’.

She spoke about a lack of support and help from banks, police and loan companies, being passed endlessly between different departments and having to recount her story over and over. In some cases she felt the fraud she experienced was not taken seriously. She feels a victim-focused approach is the only  way to help people recover and rebuild.  

New approaches to scam victim support 

The organisations represented on the panel went on to share how they now respond to scam victims, five years on from Ayleen’s experience. 

For example, the Head of Fraud at KBC Bank spoke of the dual role banks now play, both following the money and supporting those impacted:

A Belgian city police force have a specialist scam unit set up to keep in close contact with victims and prioritize their wellbeing: 

Amongst these more positive stories, there was still a sense that navigating the aftermath of a scam can be a disjointed and isolating experience. 

National fraud hotlines can help close the gap in enforcement and victim support.  Making it easier to report will drive up the valuable data that can help solve individual cases and build up intelligence on larger scale scam patterns. 

Euroconsumers works with the Global Anti Scam Alliance to break down the networks behind scams, we have co-hosted two Global Anti Scam Summits in Lisbon 2023 and Brussels 2024. Director Jorij Abraham told us: 

Working together and empowering victims to report crimes will ultimately help in the fight back against scams and restore much needed trust in the digital ecosystem.