- Europe
- News Desk
- Source: European Commission — Digital Strategy https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-services-act-study-financial-scams-online-platforms-and-ways-counter-them
The European Commission has published a study mapping the main types of online financial scams, the platform features that scammers exploit and the measures platforms can take to stop them, it said in a statement on its digital policy pages. The study, commissioned in 2025 to support the Commission's supervisory and enforcement work under the Digital Services Act (DSA), was carried out by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting.
Key facts
What kinds of scams does the study identify?
- The European Commission procured the study in 2025 to support its supervisory and enforcement tasks under the Digital Services Act.
- The research was conducted by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting.
- The study sorts online financial scams into six broad categories and identifies countermeasures across four categories.
- It finds that investment scams and romance scams are the most common and fastest-growing forms of scam in Europe.
- The study does not assess whether providers of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Search Engines (VLOSEs) comply with the law.
Online financial scams are fraudulent schemes whose main purpose is to extract money from victims. According to the Commission's summary, they now appear across every type of online intermediary service, including VLOPs and VLOSEs.
The study groups these scams into six broad categories and maps how they differ from one another. It identifies investment scams and romance scams as the most common and fastest-growing forms in Europe. It also finds that the scam landscape is increasingly being reshaped by overlapping methods that cut across categories. Which platform features do scammers exploit?
The research examines several platform features that are relevant to financial scams. These include content moderation of organic content, app store content and private messaging functions, inauthentic identities and account manipulation, and deceptive commercial content.
The study further shows that financial scams operate across different platforms and are helped by organised criminal networks that sell tools and services. According to the Commission's summary, this effectively lowers the barrier to entry for would-be scammers. What can platforms do about it?
The study identifies countermeasures in four areas. Access and gatekeeping measures, such as know-your-business-customer and identity requirements, are described as the first line of defence against online financial scams.
Detection and removal measures, including automated and human-review-based tools, can neutralise scam content. User-facing measures, such as reporting tools and information on redress, can give end users the means to identify and report scams. Platform-level policies and cooperation with third parties can help platforms identify, prevent and address online scams.
The Commission said the study offers a typological mapping of scam formats and an assessment of existing and emerging mitigation strategies. It stressed that the exercise does not evaluate compliance by providers of VLOPs and VLOSEs. What happens next?
The Commission said the study is intended to support its supervisory and enforcement tasks under the Digital Services Act. The statement did not set out a timetable for any further action following publication of the research.
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