A Federal Reserve-backed working group has recommended that the US payments industry set up an independent information exchange framework to provide a single source for scam intelligence across payment rails.
Americans reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a 25% increase over the previous year, according to Federal Trade Commission data.
Meanwhile, stakeholders across the US payments ecosystem lack real-time access to the current, industrywide information necessary to develop effective strategies to detect and prevent a growing number of scams, says the Fed.
To help tackle this, in 2023, a scams information sharing industry work group was launched, enlisting 30 fraud prevention and payments experts.
The group has no published its recommendations, arguing for an information exchange that could connect existing and future information sources and allow organizations to gain a comprehensive view of emerging scam threats, patterns and tactics.
If the idea is backed by the sector, a governing body - an industry-led group or coalition - should govern the information exchange and advance scam information sharing. Its purpose would include identifying scam information to be shared by payment stakeholders, developing an engagement plan, recognising gaps in the current landscape, and determining priorities for effective sharing.
The working group also suggests a phased approach that starts with minimal viability functionality so that organisations can share scam-related insights and trend data. Later phases would be focused on providing access to scam receiver account information and accepting scam data provided by participants.