In what is shaping up to be an extraordinary lineup of programming, M3AAWG’s 65th General Meeting (M3AAWG65) will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, from October 13–16, 2025.

As mentioned previously in the M3AAWG blog, Cecilie Fjellhøy has transformed her own scam experience, technical expertise, and deep compassion for humanity into a powerful force for systemic change. As a global voice in the fight against scams, Cecilie will present her keynote, “Deception by Design: How AI, Human Psychology, and Systemic Gaps Are Redefining Trust,” on Tuesday, October 14.

In addition to the themes and programming highlights below, this meeting will feature hands-on learning, our trademark networking opportunities, as well as several working sessions, Open Round Tables (ORTs), and Lightning Talks. Members can view the full agenda here and learn about registration here.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what to watch for as M3AAWG’s 65th General Meeting comes to Charlotte:

Banking on Security: The Finance Track

Capitalizing on Charlotte’s standing as a global hub for finance, M3AAWG65 will feature a dedicated financial technology track focused on the evolving cyber threats facing the financial services sector and the billions of people it serves.

“Hardworking people rely on the security of their financial transactions every day, and with so many changes in the threat landscape recently, it has never been timelier for a financial technology track to update attendees and galvanize the collaborations we will need to protect online users,” said Sara Roper, Chairperson of the M3AAWG Board of Directors.

The Hybrid Threat: A Playbook for Defending Against Phishing-to-Vishing Attacks

The latest findings will be presented on what can be done to fight phishing attacks, which have proliferated along with vishing and SMiShing to unprecedented heights. This includes covering the emergence of a social engineering tactic known as Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery (TOAD). Attendees will leave this session with a playbook on how to: 

• Recognize the email-to-voice pivot.
• Convert content-generation abuse into detections.
• Leverage AI to process and act on phishing complaints quickly.
• Collaborate across industry peers to control these hybrid campaigns.

Other related sessions will include the Interisle Consulting Group sharing research from its Phishing Landscape 2025 study, reporting its analysis of two million phishing attacks from the past year, and UNC Charlotte researchers presenting findings from a large-scale survey that found younger individuals and college students are particularly susceptible to SMiShing.

Ford Merrill’s Update on China-Based Smishing Ring

M3AAWG members will remember Ford Merrill delivering an eye-opening presentation on a Chinese-language smishing group at our 63rd General Meeting in Lisbon earlier this year. This session was referenced in the Krebs on Security blog, given the brazenness of the crime and its massive reach. 

Ford, who serves as the Senior Director of Research and Innovation at SecAlliance (a CSIS Security Group company), will return to the M3AAWG stage in Charlotte. He will discuss the ongoing evolution of this ecosystem and share what nearly two years of research has revealed about these syndicates that pioneered the use of digital wallets for deeply damaging scams.

CFCA Fraud Loss Survey

Another key session, where new research findings will be shared and discussed, will feature the presentation of the 2025 Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA) Fraud Loss Survey to be presented by Jason Lane-Sellers, COO of CFCA.

“A theme throughout this meeting will be sharing what has been gleaned from many important cybersecurity studies, including the CFCA survey on fraud loss,” said Severin Walker, Co-Vice Chair of the M3AAWG Board of Directors. “Some of these research projects have examined millions of data points and have provided M3AAWG 65 speakers with actionable insights into what that data is telling us, so behaviors can be adjusted moving forward.”

We Hope to See You in Charlotte

Much more awaits attendees in Charlotte, including sessions on navigating quantum computing’s impact on cryptography, cross-sector collaboration against online child harms, A.I. governance, and more. Members can register here. In the coming weeks, please stay tuned to this blog and M3AAWG’s social media channels, including Facebook and LinkedIn, for real-time updates on the conversations emerging from Charlotte!