CHOICE has joined over 20 consumer groups from 19 countries in a joint international statement calling on governments to require social media and other tech companies to implement stronger protections against the growing risks of online scams.
The global statement on stopping online scams highlights the enormous losses to scams globally and the role that technology companies play in enabling these scams.
Tech giants such as Facebook, Instagram and Google are failing to prevent scammers from using their platforms to target victims, causing enormous amounts of harm to consumers globally. In Australia, losses reported to Scamwatch from scams on social media have increased to over $66 million in 2023, an increase of more than 40% on the same time period in 2022.
These tech companies have the resources and technology to do more to protect everyone from scammers, but they won't implement effective protections until the law requires it. International consumer groups are united in calling for governments across the world to ensure there are significant penalties if these technology giants continue to let scams run rampant on their platforms.
Download the statement (PDF)
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