The Scam Playbook Platforms Are Finally Being Forced to Read

Jessica Albright · 2026-10-20

Online financial scams aren't a niche problem anymore. They've become one of the most pervasive crimes of the digital age, and they show up everywhere people gather online, from the biggest social platforms to the search engines we use every day. That's exactly why the European Commission commissioned a major study in 2025. The goal? To understand how these scams actually work and what platforms can realistically do to stop them. The research was carried out by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting, and it's meant to support the Commission's supervisory work under the Digital Services Act (DSA). One important note up front: the study doesn't grade any specific platform's compliance. It's a map, not a report card. ### Six flavors of financial fraud If you think a scam is a scam is a scam, think again. The researchers sorted online financial scams into six broad categories: - Investment scams - Romance scams - E-commerce scams - Employment and collaboration scams - Unexpected gain scams - Disaster relief scams Here's the part that should make every business leader pause: investment scams and romance scams are the most common and fastest-growing types in Europe. And the lines between categories are blurring. Scammers mix and match tactics, so a romance scam can slide smoothly into an investment pitch. That overlap makes them harder to spot and harder to police. ### The platform features scammers love Scams don't happen in a vacuum. They exploit specific features that platforms build to help legitimate users. The study digs into several of them: - Advertising systems - Recommender systems - Content moderation of organic content - Monetisation systems - App store content and private messaging - Inauthentic identities and account manipulation - Deceptive commercial content - Generative AI Notice how many of these are core business tools. Ad targeting, recommendations, and messaging all create value, but they also create openings. And generative AI is making the problem worse, letting scammers produce polished, convincing content at scale. The study also highlights something bigger than any single platform: financial scams often operate across multiple services at once, and they're frequently backed by organized criminal networks. A victim might get hooked on one platform, groomed in a private chat on another, and pushed toward a fraudulent payment through a third. ### What platforms can actually do So what's the counter-play? The study assesses both existing and emerging mitigation strategies. The short version: there's no single fix. Effective responses combine better identity verification, smarter moderation, tighter ad review, and faster cross-platform coordination. > "The scam landscape is increasingly being redefined by overlapping methods across different categories." That line from the research matters for anyone running a business online. If your customers interact with you through ads, recommendations, or messaging, you're part of this ecosystem, whether you like it or not. ### Why this matters to your business Financial scams erode trust. When users get burned on a platform, they don't just blame the scammer. They blame the platform, and often the brands that advertise there. For business professionals in the U.S., the takeaway is straightforward: know the scam types, audit the features you rely on, and build fraud awareness into your customer communications. The full study and its executive summary are available through official publication channels if you want the deep dive. But even the headline findings give you a solid starting point for protecting your customers and your reputation.