Callsign survey says half of consumers blame banks, retailers, social media companies and telcos for scam message explosion

HONG KONG SAR – Media
OutReach – 23 September 2021 – Callsign, the digital trust pioneer reveals that consumers
think banks, retailers and mobile operators need to do more to protect them and
their personal information from fraudsters. Trust in these organizations is
eroding fast because consumers say they are overwhelmed by scam messages from
fraudsters spoofing brand names daily.

The problem
has become so pervasive that consumers mistrust the technology, processes
designed to protect them from fraudsters and confirm identities with many
adamant that users must prove beyond doubt who they are when logging in to use
a platform, and that there should be an online identity system to quell the surge
of scams.

“Callsign’s data
demonstrates that consumer trust in our digital world has vanished and, rightly or wrongly brands, are being blamed. Yet the sense is that little is
being actually done to purposely re-establish digital trust through complete
and accurate digital identities,” explained Stuart Dobbie, Senior Vice President,
Innovation, Callsign.

The survey of
global consumers – including Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and
Singapore – revealed that almost half (45%) of
consumers say their trust in businesses such as banks, retailers, mobile
network operators and delivery companies, has decreased due to persistent scams
spoofing brand names. With global consumers (42%) asking mobile network
operators to do more to stop scammers using their platforms, and a third (33%)
asking the same of banks.

People claim
to have received scams through email (67%), SMS (57%), phone (46%), messaging
apps (33%) and social media (23%) in the last year. But over a third (37%) of
global consumers don’t know where or who to report a scam message to, or simply
get too many to bother (34%).  Over half
of all consumers don’t trust organizations to keep their data safe; 43% of scam
victims react with suspicion wanting to know where fraudsters got their
details.

“The solution lies in re-thinking how we
fight fraud and how we identify people online. Current approaches tackle both
challenges by only identifying fraud,” said Namrata Jolly, General Manager -
Asia Pacific, Callsign. “The problem with this approach is that a fraudster
using stolen credentials looks like a genuine user gaining access to accounts
or executing transactions. If instead fraud strategies look to positively
identify only genuine users, this automatically and simultaneously prevents
fraud.”

Callsign’s technology involves the layering
of behavioral biometrics over threat detection, device, and location data.  Through a simple swipe of a phone, typing pressure, mouse
movements or device angles, users can be personally recognized to a 99.999%
accuracy. Organizations eliminate one point of failure in the authentication
process and achieve two-factor authentication with minimal friction.

“With consumers feeling the brunt of
perceived inaction by organizations, it’s no surprise that they are asking for
more protection. If we continue to be unable to know and trust that the person is
who they say they are online, large parts of our society will stop working.

Digital Trust is about the confidence we
have in the technology, processes, and people to secure our digital world.
Digital Trust is underpinned by digital identities, and the fact that scams are
running wild proves that our digital identities are well and truly broken. It’s
time to re-think fraud prevention strategies, identifying genuine users through
their behaviors will allow us to identify users online and re-establish digital
trust,” concluded
Dobbie.

Editors notes.

*All figures,
unless stated are from Opinium. The total sample size was 9568 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 (UAE, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, South
Africa) 1065; Nordics; 500. The fieldwork was carried out online by Opinium in
June 2021.