The Trust Gap Fueling Multi-Billion Dollar Fraud Losses

Scams work because it’s often hard to spot the scam while it’s happening. Despite $442 billion in scam losses across 42 countries last year, roughly three quarters of individuals say they can recognize scams. Jorij Abraham, managing director with Global Anti-Scam Alliance, says this confidence gap is costing billions and predicts what fraud practitioners should expect in 2026.

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“We see that people who are young, who are highly educated, are being scammed more than other kinds of groups. For the record: Everybody gets scammed,” Abraham said.

“There is no target group or segment not being scammed, but young people highly internet-literate are scammed more,” he said. “Younger people are more confident that they can recognize scams, while they cannot.”

Traditional awareness campaigns are not working and are largely ineffective. “Scientific research shows that the impact of such campaigns diminishes after just two to three weeks,” he said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Abraham also discussed:

• The link between digital payment growth and surge in scams;
• What to expect from global scam tactics heading into 2026;
• Deepfake attacks on AI assistants – the next big threat.

Abraham leads the Global Anti Scam Alliance and previously served as managing director of ScamAdviser.com, the global blacklist for malicious websites. He was director of research at Thuiswinkel.org, the Dutch Ecommerce Association, and Ecommerce Europe, the European Ecommerce Association.