Callsign Warns That More Than Half of Consumers Trust Organizations Less After Receiving Scam Messages From Fraudsters Impersonating Their Brand Name

Consumers receive 3 scams a day, with a quarter receiving more messages from fraudsters than genuine messages from friends and family.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 June 2021 – Callsign, the digital identity pioneer, revealed today that the rise of scams is harming organizations’ reputations across the world. The global study* of consumers revealed that just receiving a scam message purporting to be from any brand is enough for 52% of them to lose trust in the organization regardless of any real association with the message.

Industries most targeted by fraudsters are financial services and public sector organizations with consumers stating that of all scam messages they receive, 60% claim to represent their bank, or a public sector provider (40%).

The scam problem is rampant across all communications channels. Globally, on average, individuals who receive scam messages via all channels receive 1133 a year, with more than a quarter 28% saying they receive more messages from fraudsters than friends and family.

With 52% of consumers admitting they don’t report fraudulent messages, the scale of scam messaging and victims is likely to be underestimated.

“Fraud hides in volume and the rapid migration of the global population online in the last 18 months has led to the industrialization of scams.  The consequence is fraudsters are using the same channels we’re using to authenticate genuine consumers, and this is harming organizations’ reputations with the decrease of trust in their brands,” explained Stuart Dobbie, Senior Vice President, Innovation, Callsign.

The survey is a reminder that consumers have a choice. Almost a third (29%) of consumers who have been a victim of fraud say they have stopped using the company whose name the fraudster used to execute the scam. In comparison consumers are less likely to leave the channel the scam is executed through (only 13% would leave their network provider) demonstrating that regardless of the scam method, it’s the brand being mimicked that suffers.

SMS appears to be the weakest link with only 8% of consumers thinking it is a safe channel to communicate with their bank or retailer, and the channel has seen a 57% decrease in trust from those surveyed just because they have received a scam text message.

“Organizations need to re-evaluate the communications channels they use to interact with customers to better establish trust. With fraudsters monopolizing open channels such as SMS and email, these channels cannot be relied upon to also authenticate identity. Our research shows that almost half (45%) of consumers think identity is the problem and that people should prove who they are when signing up to use a platform to stop scammers. These consumer concerns emphasize organizations must wake up to the importance of digital identification,” explained Dobbie.

Dobbie concluded: “If organizations are to maintain and build trust in the digital world, they need to better balance protection and experience to ensure their brand is not tarnished by scammers. With Intelligence Driven Authentication, organizations can overcome the fraudsters, protect their brand, create seamless and secure customer journeys and build all important digital trust.”

Editors notes.

*All figures, unless stated are from Opinium. The total sample size was 9,568 adults with the following national breakdown:  Brazil, 1000; Germany, 1000; Hong Kong, 420; India, 553; Indonesia, 541; Philippines, 529; Singapore, 457; UK 1000; USA, 2003.

Regional samples; Benelux, 500; Middle East and Africa (United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, South Africa) 1065; Nordics; 500. The fieldwork was carried out online by Opinium in June 2021.