Scams as national security risk: what fraud teams need to act on

TL;DR: 98% of American adults see scams as a national security threat, while 75% of victims do not report incidents and 55% first contact their bank, according to Feedzai citing Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance. The core problem is not awareness but fragmented reporting, which keeps fraud intelligence from becoming coordinated defence.

Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Feedzai: “What’s Unifying Americans in Polarizing Times? Scams.”.

By the numbers:

• 98% of American adults believe scams pose a national security threat to the country.
• 75% of victims do not report scams because they are uncertain it would make a difference.
• 55% of scam victims first report their experience to a bank.

Key questions

Q: How should financial institutions handle scam reports so they actually improve fraud defence?

A: Financial institutions should treat scam reports as structured intelligence, not just service cases.

Q: Why do scam reporting gaps make fraud defence less effective?

A: Reporting gaps reduce the sample of observable attacks, which weakens pattern recognition and hides repeat offenders.

Q: What breaks when victims do not know where to report a scam?

A: When victims do not know where to report, the organisation loses early warning, loses linkage between cases, and loses the opportunity to intervene before further transfers or replays occur.

Practitioner guidance

• Standardise scam intake and classification Create a single reporting taxonomy for scams across branches, call centres, apps, and fraud queues so every complaint becomes usable intelligence instead of a standalone case.
• Route victim reports into transaction monitoring Link complaint intake directly to fraud monitoring so reports can be correlated with payment patterns, mule behaviour, and repeated beneficiary exposure.
• Reduce reporting friction for victims Simplify the path from customer complaint to formal report, including clear instructions for where to escalate and what evidence to capture.

Bottom line: Scams now sit at the intersection of fraud, trust, and national security, so the governance response has to be broader than transaction monitoring alone.

Explore further

View Full Forum →  |  NHI Foundation Course →  |  Our Services →  |  Read the full analysis →