With Scams in America Spiraling, Research Confirms the Urgent Need to Share Intelligence, Coordinate Responses
M3AAWG recently sponsored one of the most comprehensive studies to have ever looked at scams in America, and many of our members designed its underlying survey questions. Now the results are in.
Stop Scams Alliance and Gallup released the study today, which revealed disturbing trends that M3AAWG continues to play a meaningful role in addressing. The findings include:
- Financial scams in 2025 are estimated to victimize 15 million U.S. adults and result in $68 billion in losses.
- Adverse mental health consequences faced 73% of U.S. adults whose respondent or household experienced a scam.
- Scams grew into a normalized aspect of American life, with 41% of U.S. adults reported being targeted by a scam daily.
- Victims experience ambiguity in understanding where to report the scam, and/or believe reporting the event “won’t help.”
- Scams impact everyone. People of all ages, education levels, income brackets and backgrounds are at risk, challenging the perception that scam victimization is concentrated among older adults.
This research gives us a clear, data-driven view of the scale and nature of scams, including activity that doesn’t show up in traditional reporting.
“For M3AAWG, the value is in measuring how scams operate across channels. With this we can target parts in our ecosystem where intervention will have the greatest impact. This strengthens our ability to influence industry policy by grounding our recommendations in credible, independent data,” said M3AAWG Financial Services SIG Leader Sara Roper.
The Multichannel Nature of Scams
As attackers pressure victims with fear tactics like authority and urgency, the study has reinforced what M3AAWG members see operationally: scams are targeting victims across platforms.
“Overall, the report shows scams are not simply a fraud problem, a banking problem, or a platform problem. They are a trust problem that spans communications, identity, payments, and consumer protection. That is precisely why organizations like M3AAWG, which bring together stakeholders across those ecosystems, are uniquely positioned to help drive meaningful progress,” said M3AAWG Policy & Regulation Priority Committee Co-Chair Dennis Dayman.
By design, M3AAWG creates an environment where those groups can work on prevention before losses occur.
“No single provider sees the full picture, which makes cross-channel coordination and shared intelligence essential,” Sara added.
Finding Optimism as Technology Distorts Trust
Scams work because the tactics are effective and they exploit human nature. Meanwhile, criminals continue to adopt technology that scales impersonation, trust, and social engineering. So, where’s the optimism?
Sara and Dennis point to M3AAWG as a beacon of hope with a lot of the pre-transaction activity of these financially motivated crimes taking place in its wheelhouse.
“The report confirms a dire need for stronger intelligence sharing and robust feedback loops between financial services providers and the communications ecosystem. With scams becoming increasingly cross-channel/cross-platform, prevention will rely on sharing signals from confirmed scam activity,” Dennis added.
M3AAWG pioneer, and Chairperson Emeritus, Chris Roosenraad said the report shows that scams in America are not purely a technical or educational challenge, but rather a “coordination across an entire ecosystem” challenge.
“The magic of M3AAWG gets everybody in the room to have those hard conversations honestly and frankly. And it does so in a way where everyone works together as opposed to any kind of a blame culture or anything like that,” he added.
The Path Ahead
For M3AAWG, the research serves as a reference point to evaluate ongoing initiatives and programming to ensure evidence-based alignment with the reality of scams in America.
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