JPMorganChase and Amazon Back Aspen Institute Drive Against Scams

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (Aspen FSP) has launched a new effort focused on reducing the scale and severity of scams affecting Americans.

The Scam Prevention Initiative aims to improve how scams are measured, tracked and understood; bring together industry, government and civil society leaders to determine priorities and measure progress; advance information-sharing and practical solutions that help organizations prevent scams, disrupt criminal activity and protect consumers; and ensure scam prevention remains a national priority for business leaders and policymakers, the organization said in a June 23 press release.

“Fraud and scams are a shared threat, and they require a shared response,” Kate Griffin, director of the Scam Prevention Initiative at Aspen FSP, said in the release.

The initiative will be a newly established Leadership Group on Scam Prevention and will include issue-specific forums that bring together technical experts, law enforcement officials, consumer advocates, policymakers and industry practitioners.

Participants in the Leadership Group include AARP, American Bankers Association, Amazon, Apple, Block,Capital One, Citizens Financial Group, Gen, Google, JPMorganChase, Match Group, Microsoft, PayPal, Target, Walmart and Zelle.

Ravi Govindaraju, head of product, trust and security at JPMorganChase, said in the release: “We’re proud to join this Initiative and support the kind of ecosystem-wide approach needed to bring public, private and nonprofit organizations together around practical solutions that help people prevent scams and keep their finances secure.”

JPMorganChase said in May that it is supporting an Aspen FSP program that is working with Propel to pilot real-time transaction blocking to prevent electronic benefit transfer (EBT) theft.

Abigail Bishop, head of scam prevention at Amazon, said in the June 23 press release: “We’re committed to ensuring scammers cannot exploit Amazon’s brand to take advantage of the customers who trust us — from holding bad actors accountable to educating customers on how to stay safe.”

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in April that social media scams generated $2.1 billion in losses last year, an eightfold increase since 2020.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Financial Scams and Consumer Trust” found that 4 in 10 households have fallen victim to digital scams in the past five years. Most scams of individual consumers inflict on average hundreds of dollars in losses, while investment and Social Security scams take a toll measured in thousands of dollars.

“For financial institutions, combatting scams isn’t just about maintaining the security of their customers’ accounts — it’s also pivotal to building trust and lasting relationships,” the report said.