Digital Services Act study on financial scams on online platforms and ways to counter them

Jessica Albright · 2026-10-20

<span>Digital Services Act study on financial scams on online platforms and ways to counter them</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-10-20T08:47:54+02:00" title="Tuesday, October 20, 2026 - 08:47">Tue, 10/20/2026 - 08:47</time> </span> <div> <div class="cnt-thumbnail-media ecl-u-type-m cnt-content-wrapper"> <div class="cnt-teaser ecl-u-type-m ecl-u-mb-xl"> <p class="ecl-page-header-standardised__description">A new study maps the main types of online financial scams, platform features scammers exploit, their impact on users and society and measures platforms can take to stop them.</p> </div> <div class="cnt-image cnt-media"> <div> <div class="ecl-media-container"><figure class="ecl-media-container__figure"><picture class="ecl-picture ecl-media-container__picture"><source><img class="ecl-media-container__media" src="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/styles/newsroom_large/public/newsroom/items/DSA_variation_v3_W3REBo7ClNb039rqN6HCPAlnoo_2408801_mGY8upNR41r0SRfigTQNIe4Uag_2472391_dFnp8LC6JTjhtZo6TpMr7H3yrU_249266.png?itok=8Xw67az1" alt="Text &quot;Digital Services Act&quot; inside a white triangle inside a white triangle against a purple background."></picture></figure></div> </div> </div> <div class="cnt-main-body ecl-u-type-m"> <div class="ecl"><p>Online financial scams – fraudulent schemes whose primary aim is to extract money from victims – have grown into a pervasive crime in the digital age. They are present across all types of online intermediary services, including <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-vlops">Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Search Engines (VLOSEs)</a>.</p> <p>The European Commission has procured this study in 2025 to support its supervisory and enforcement tasks under the <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act">Digital Services Act (DSA)</a>. It provides a typological mapping of financial scam formats across online platforms and assesses existing and emerging mitigation strategies to curb financial scams online.</p> <p>The study was carried out by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting. It does not evaluate compliance by providers of VLOPs and VLOSEs.</p> <p>Read the <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/33b345a8-cc2c-11f1-8b4c-01aa75ed71a1">study</a> and the <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d0d686e7-ccf5-11f1-8b4c-01aa75ed71a1/language-en">executive summary in (French and English)</a>.</p> <h2>Key insights</h2> <h3>A diverse typology of scams</h3> <p>The study maps different types of online financial scams and categorises them in six broad categories:</p> <ul> <li>investment scams</li> <li>romance scams</li> <li>e-commerce scams</li> <li>employment and collaboration scams</li> <li>unexpected gain scams</li> <li>disaster relief scams</li> </ul> <p>The study finds that investment scams and romance scams are the most common and fastest-growing forms of scams in Europe. It also finds that the scam landscape is increasingly being redefined by overlapping methods across different categories.</p> <h3>Online platforms features and financial scams</h3> <p>The study presents information on relevant features related to scams on online platforms including:</p> <ul> <li>advertising systems</li> <li>recommender systems</li> <li>content moderation of organic content</li> <li>monetisation systems</li> <li>app store content and private messaging functions</li> <li>inauthentic identities and account manipulation</li> <li>deceptive commercial content</li> <li>generative AI</li> </ul> <p>The study also shows how financial scams operate across different platforms and are facilitated by organised criminal networks that sell tools and services, effectively lowering the barrier to entry.</p> <h3>Identifying effective countermeasures</h3> <p>The study identifies relevant countermeasures across 4 categories:</p> <ol> <li>Access and gatekeeping measures, such as know your business customer and identity requirements are the first line of defence against online financial scams;</li> <li>Detection and removal measures, including automated and human-review based measures, can neutralise scam content;</li> <li>User facing measures – such as reporting tools and information on redress – can equip end users with tools and information to identify and report online scams;</li> <li>Platform-level policies and cooperation with third parties can help platforms identify, prevent and address online scams.</li> </ol></div> </div> <div class="cnt-aside ecl-u-type-m"> <aside class="ecl-u-height-100"> <h3>Related topics</h3> <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/related-content?topic=150" class="ecl-tag ecl-u-mb-xs">Online platforms and e-commerce</a> <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/related-content?topic=193" class="ecl-tag ecl-u-mb-xs">DSA - Digital Services Act</a> </aside> </div> <div class="cnt-bottom ecl-u-pv-xl"> <div class="ecl-u-mb-3xl"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="layout layout--onecol"> <div class="layout__region layout__region--content"> <div class="cnt-last-update-block"> </div> <div class="cnt-print-pdf-block"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="node_view"></div>