The Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust (BBB) launched the Scam Survival Toolkit on the inaugural National Scam Survivor Day with support from Amazon and Capital One. National Scam Survivor Day is a day established by BBB to uplift all scam survivors around the globe for coming forward to tell their stories. The toolkit provides scam victims with timely information relevant to their personal situation, including immediate actions to take, next steps to fully recover, and relevant support resources to explore. To celebrate the launch, Amazon hosted an event for industry leaders with BBB to spotlight the toolkit and the impact it will have on scam victims and their recovery.
“Amazon is committed to protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance,” said Scott Knapp, director of worldwide buyer risk prevention at Amazon. “Scams can happen to anyone, and we are grateful to partner with the Better Business Bureau to provide valuable recovery resources to those who may have been impacted by a scammer.”
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s Global State of Scams Report estimates that consumers lost over $1 trillion globally in 2023. The launch of the Scam Survival Toolkit is one in a series of initiatives Amazon and BBB have launched together to help support victims of these crimes.
Amazon and BBB: A brief history of the scam-fighting partnership
Amazon strives to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, which includes ensuring that scammers are not using our brand to take advantage of people who trust us. Our partnership with BBB is part of our sustained efforts to combat impersonation scams globally and get victims the support they need to recover.
In 2022, Amazon partnered with BBB and Capital One to educate consumers about scams, report them, and avoid losing money and personal information by enhancing the capabilities of the BBB Scam Tracker online reporting tool. The new features include a guided questionnaire that makes it easier for consumers to identify and report scams and easier for BBB to share information with federal, state, provincial agencies, and law enforcement. In 2023 alone, BBB Scam Tracker helped consumers avoid losing an estimated $24.3 million to scammers according to BBB.
Also in 2022, BBB and Amazon announced a new consumer education campaign aimed at helping consumers identify impersonation scams. Outlined on the campaign homepage are examples of different types of impersonation scams, detailed accounts of how impersonation scams are perpetrated, and steps to take when targeted by a scammer.
“When a person is targeted by a scam, they’re not only impacted financially, but in other ways as well,” said Melissa Lanning, executive director of BBB Institute. “We know from our research that they can also experience stress, anxiety, and loss of confidence, as well as an impact to their financial stability and credit health. With more and more people being impacted by scams, we need to work together to help them in all the ways they need assistance.”
With the launch of the Scam Survival Toolkit, scam survivors will get the support resources they need as they restore their financial, mental, and emotional health.
To learn more about Amazon’s approach to protecting consumers from impersonation scams, visit our Scam Prevention page here.