Fighting Scams with the Global Signal Exchange
Oxford Information Labs is leading a two year research project on how to increase the protection and support for adults (anyone aged 18+) who are victimised by scams and fraud, with a focus on populations at risk who are disproportionately impacted. The project is supported by Google.org, Google’s philanthropic organization.
Google's philanthropic organizationProtecting People from Online Scams
The goal of the project is to investigate how scammers target different adult populations, and to develop a new approach to scam prevention. There is particular focus on the grooming techniques used to target populations where the risk of harm severity is higher.
At-Risk Populations
Including: Older adults, neurodivergent individuals, and those with cognitive, linguistic or physical disabilities.
AI-Driven Analysis
Using Gemini-powered, AI driven semantic analysis of 70 million domain-name based threat signals from the Global Signal Exchange.
Actionable Insights
This large-scale data will generate actionable insights into how scammers target different adult populations.
These insights will inform the development of practical tools and training to support charities, frontline workers, and digital safety stakeholders across the UK and Ireland.
Scams and Fraud: A Global Crisis
Scams and fraud are a global crisis. The impact of scams goes well beyond financial loss.
of adults experienced a scam in the last 12 months1
of victims experience stress and anxiety2
suffer from depression2
experience suicidal thoughts2
Victims often experience shame and guilt, and do not report scams due to the widespread stigma surrounding victimisation.3
73% of the global population are confident that they can recognise a scam, and yet 23% lose money. It is clear that existing efforts are failing to protect victims, particularly people who are at the highest risk of exploitation.4
1 Global Anti Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams 2025 Report, https://www.gasa.org/_files/ugd/2594f1_20b93edb7d834aada5f8d3ad6486af9c.pdf
2 UK Home Office, Experiences of Victims of Fraud and Cyber Crime, 2025, gov.uk
3 Kubilay et al., 2023, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387823001025
4 Global Anti Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams 2025 Report, https://www.gasa.org/_files/ugd/2594f1_20b93edb7d834aada5f8d3ad6486af9c.pdf
Anyone Can Be
a Victim
The majority of studies into scam and fraud victimisation focus on susceptibility; which demographics are most likely to 'fall for' scams. However, the evidence suggests there is no consistent profile of scam or fraud victims.
Instead, recent research suggests that situational vulnerabilities - such as financial difficulty, stress, loneliness, or caring responsibilities - play a far greater role in victimisation than fixed demographic traits.
This is a fundamental shift away from a deficit model, where certain victims are assumed to be more vulnerable or susceptible to scams than others based on inherent factors such as age or disability.
Why Are Existing Efforts Falling Short?
The last two decades have seen a major shift from scams as a peripheral challenge in the early 2000s to a crisis of staggering scale in the 2020s. Scams have evolved from fragmented, “cold caller” attacks into a transnational, highly industrialised, trillion dollar global economy.
Apprehending scam and fraud perpetrators is now resource intensive and uniquely challenging. Scam prevention efforts have not kept pace with the shift towards an automated, high-frequency industrial pipeline.
Given the difficulty of profiling cybercriminals, resources have been redirected towards profiling victims in order to identify “susceptibility factors”. There is a pervasive narrative that victims are to blame when they “succumb” to fraud.
However, awareness-raising is insufficient on its own. Although awareness provides a foundational layer of defence, all adults are at risk of becoming scam victims under the right conditions. Situational vulnerabilities such as stress, time pressure, and cognitive load have emerged as a more potent predictor of victimization than demographics. Reframing scam prevention not merely as a test of awareness, but as a breach of a person's temporary defenses.
Approaches that focus solely on awareness raising can implicitly reinforce stigma by suggesting that the victim had the power to prevent the crime. The evidence, however, shows scammers exploit legitimate needs within target groups. Warning someone to “be careful” doesn't fix the underlying factors that make a lure effective.
Safeguarding: a transformative approach to supporting victims
OXIL Research is committed to making a meaningful difference to victims of scams and fraud.
The project seeks to move away from a culture that blames victims for "falling for" a scam, and acknowledge the reality that anyone can be a victim.
Inspired by the work of Global Signal Exchange - which enables organisations to share information to protect victims of scams and fraud - OXIL Research is proposing to introduce safeguarding models - a common practice in social care and healthcare – to the fight against scams and fraud.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding describes the process in which all organisations involved in the scam kill chain share information in order to protect anyone who might be vulnerable from abuse of any kind.
Shift the Burden
Applying a safeguarding lens to the fight against scams means to shift the burden of defending themselves away from victims, to others in society who are better placed to help.
Information Sharing
Safeguarding also transforms the idea of information sharing from a nice-to-have to something that is the key to making a difference.
Initial findings support a movement away from a deficit model and towards a social model; where scams are seen as a product of the interaction between environmental and systemic failures.
What to Expect from This Project
Over 2026-2027, OXIL Research will:
Generate New Insights
Generate new insights into how scammers target their victims using threat-signal data from the Global Signal Exchange (GSE) and OXIL's research methodologies. This will be socialised through two research papers.
Create Practical Tools
Create practical tools including its ThreatCheck app to report and get feedback on suspicious emails and SMS.
Build Community Resilience
Through a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Module in Safeguarding Adults Against Scams and Fraud. Safeguarding training for organisations involved in the fraud kill chain in order to apply safeguarding to all adults, not just those deemed "vulnerable".