With Government's Role Uncertain, Businesses Unite to Combat Fraud

CYBER RISK Cybersecurity In-Depth: Feature articles on security strategy, latest trends, and people to know. With Government's Role Uncertain, Businesses Unite to Combat Fraud Major industry leaders agree to share information and collaborate to boost defenses in the wake of distressing online scams. Arielle Waldman,Features Writer,Dark Reading March 19, 2026 5 Min Read A United Nations-sponsored plan has drawn a collection of major businesses into cooperating to boost efforts to combat rampant online fraud, and the new accord also urges governments to designate prevention as a national priority.  Online fraud continues to reach record highs, requiring new approaches. One of the latest occurred during the UN Global Fraud Summit this month, where eleven industry giants signed the Industry Accord Against Online Scams and Fraud, a joint effort to fight fraud that "impacts billions of users across the globe."    Joining the voluntary accord signifies a commitment that the companies will share pertinent threat intelligence, expertise, and work toward "implementing robust measures" intended to protect consumers and prevent fraudulent scams. Fraud can be a broad term, but for the purpose of the accord it pertains to stealing money and/or personal information.  Signatories included several major tech companies such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon and Meta. Also along were retail brands Levi Strauss and Co. and Target; and online platforms Pinterest, Match Group and LinkedIn.  Related:Cyberattackers Don't Care About Good Causes The accord and its signees recognized that increasingly sophisticated fraud scams demand a collaborative response, but prevention must extend beyond the private sector.  "Elevate Scam Prevention as a National Priority with Dedicated Resources: We call upon governments to formally declare scam prevention a national priority," the accord said.  Hackers Abuse the Most Popular Platforms The signees are no strangers to fraud themselves, whether directly or indirectly. Levi’s issued a forced password reset following a credential stuffing attack in 2024 that compromised more than 70,000 customer accounts, and Target suffered a data breach in 2013 after attackers stole 40 million credit and debit card numbers.   Threat actors commonly use Facebook and other social media platforms to conduct fraud. Meta, Facebook's parent company, removed more than "159 million scam ads" in 2025, according to the company. Rapid7 published a blog post in 2018 that was updated in 2025, explaining how and why threat actors abuse Pinterest, particularly to commit financial fraud.  Attackers also leverage reputable brands like Microsoft and Google to conduct fraudulent scams when it comes to phishing campaigns. Romance scams comprise another major fraud avenue, so it's unsurprising that Match Group – which owns Tinder, Hinge, and Match.com – also signed the accord.  A Four-Pronged Approach to Fraud Prevention  Related:What Orgs Can Learn From Olympics, World Cup IR Plans Fraud examples are plentiful, but prevention proves challenging. The accord plans to address these threats through four main principles: prevention, cooperation and collective learning, resilience, and public awareness.  Important aspects include implementing product features to enhance user security and enforcing anti-scam usage policies. Under the cooperation and collective learning bracket, the accord asks signees to improve joint understanding of scams, countermeasures, and evolving threats.  By signing, companies also agreed to provide swift responses to "adversarial shifts and incidents of scams and fraud." Promoting user awareness is another major component. The accord calls for companies to maintain "clear and accessible" reporting channels and to engage with their users on the substantial and growing risks fraud poses – such as draining unsuspected users’ bank accounts and stealing highly sensitive information like credentials.    The More Information We Share, the Better Adjacent to the Accord, Google said it will be "sharing more information" through its Global Signal Exchange, a fraud and abuse prevention initiative launched in 2024. Like the accord, it highlighted the importance of industry, government, and enforcement tackling the substantial problem together. Related:EU Auto Rules Shift Gears on Cybersecurity Standards The tech giant also announced its partnership on a series of guides on data sharing, private sector referrals to law enforcement, and public policy frameworks. Data sharing documentation revolves around six principles including transparency and accountability, early learning, and trust through governance.     While the Retail and Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC)  is not a signatory to this accord, its underlying philosophy that isolation benefits the adversary drives everything RH-ISAC does as a community, says Pam Lindemoen, chief security officer. Online scams and fraud are too large and too interconnected to be solved by any single company, or sector working alone, she adds, highlighting how essential is collective learning and information-sharing.   "Fraud doesn't respect company boundaries," Lindemoen tells Dark Reading. "A gift card scam hitting one major retailer this week is almost certainly being attempted against their peers simultaneously. The faster that intelligence moves across the sector, the faster organizations can act, and the narrower the window of exposure for everyone." Is Government Help on the Way?  The public sector also has a part to play in fraud prevention. The accord and its signees detailed the importance of public and private partnership to quell the complex issue.   To that end, there is a series of "decisive actions" recommended for governments. Alongside formally declaring scam prevention a national priority, the accord urges governments to budget explicitly for anti-scam initiatives, such as increased funding and training for law enforcement and specialized tools to improve tracing cryptocurrency that enables threat actors to funnel stolen money. Another potentially tricky ask is for governments to invest in modernizing data capabilities and streamline reporting, "specifically improving existing databases." Governments often operate with legacy technology due to limited resources and strained budgets. Dark Reading contacted federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for comment but received an automatic out of office reply due to the "funding hiatus" at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While the accord is a great step in the right direction, the industry will need to do more than just ask governments to make scam prevention a priority, says Betsy Cooper, director of Aspen Policy Academy. She works with the public to raise awareness and provide resources to effectively communicate with government leaders when it comes to fraud prevention.  Cooper told Dark Reading she is glad to see industry leaders step up to share information and grow the importance of scam prevention, she adds. But gaining government support will require more action, she tells Dark Reading.  The industry “will need to work directly with those governments to put real resources into scam prevention so we all end up safer," she says. About the Author Arielle Waldman Features Writer, Dark Reading Arielle spent the last decade working as a reporter, transitioning from human interest stories to covering all things cybersecurity related in 2020. Now, as a features writer for Dark Reading, she delves into the security problems enterprises face daily, hoping to provide context and actionable steps. She looks for stories that go past the initial news to understand where the industry is going. She previously lived in Florida where she wrote for the Tampa Bay Times before returning to Boston where her cybersecurity career took off at SearchSecurity. When she's not writing about cybersecurity, she pursues personal projects that include a mystery novel and poetry collection.     More Insights Industry Reports Frost Radar™: Non-human Identity Solutions 2026 CISO AI Risk Report Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 The ROI of AI in Security ThreatLabz 2025 Ransomware Report Access More Research Webinars Building a Robust SOC in a Post-AI World Retail Security: Protecting Customer Data and Payment Systems Rethinking SSE: When Unified SASE Delivers the Flexibility Enterprises Need Securing Remote and Hybrid Work Forecast: Beyond the VPN AI-Powered Threat Detection: Beyond Traditional Security Models More Webinars You May Also Like CYBER RISK Switching to Offense: US Makes Cyber Strategy Changes by Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer NOV 21, 2025 CYBER RISK Microsoft Exchange 'Under Imminent Threat,' Act Now by Arielle Waldman NOV 12, 2025 CYBERATTACKS & DATA BREACHES DeepSeek Breach Opens Floodgates to Dark Web by Emma Zaballos APR 22, 2025 CYBER RISK Why Data Privacy Isn't the Same as Data Security by Chris Borkenhagen APR 10, 2025 Edge Picks APPLICATION SECURITY AI Agents in Browsers Light on Cybersecurity, Bypass Controls CYBER RISK Browser Extensions Pose Heightened, but Manageable, Security Risks CYBERSECURITY OPERATIONS Video Convos: Agentic AI, Apple, EV Chargers; Cybersecurity Peril Abounds ENDPOINT SECURITY Extension Poisoning Campaign Highlights Gaps in Browser Security Latest Articles in The Edge THREAT INTELLIGENCE Inside Olympic Cybersecurity: Lessons From Paris 2024 to Milan Cortina 2026 MAR 16, 2026 THREAT INTELLIGENCE The Data Gap: Why Nonprofit Cyber Incidents Go Underreported MAR 13, 2026 CYBER RISK Cyberattackers Don't Care About Good Causes MAR 13, 2026 CYBER RISK What Orgs Can Learn From Olympics, World Cup IR Plans MAR 12, 2026 Read More The Edge Want more Dark Reading stories in your Google search results?