About this event
The Research Working Group Meeting is meant for Members and Scientific Researchers. The Goal of the Research Working Group is to develop a strong evidence base for global antifraud policy and interventions by making research and the collective understanding of threat vectors faster and more effective. Desired deliverables are an improved understanding of fraud, through stronger global baseline research, a structured gap analysis and enhancing industry/academia interaction.
In this meeting we have 2 presentations:
- Can you spot the real one: Consumers’ ability to detect real vs. fraudulent tickets, by Prof. Yaniv Hanoch
- A Computational Analysis of Millions of Scam and Spam Robocalls Targeting Older Adults and the General Public by Ryan Moore, Assistant Professor @ University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Doug Shadel, Managing Director @ Fraud Prevention Strategies
Can you spot the real one: Consumers’ ability to detect real vs. fraudulent tickets
The proliferation of fraudulent tickets poses urgent challenges for consumers and industry stakeholders, yet little is known about consumers’ ability to detect such fraud. To address this gap, we examined how accurately consumers distinguish between authentic and counterfeit event tickets and identified psychological and contextual factors influencing detection. Across three studies (N = 604), participants evaluated images of real and fraudulent tickets representing common scam types, including misspelt text and non-existent seating. Using Signal Detection Theory, Study 1 revealed very low sensitivity (d′ = 0.18): only 42% of fraudulent tickets were correctly identified, while 36% of genuine tickets were misclassified as fraudulent. Performance was especially poor for non-existent seating scams (d′ = −0.05) compared to misspelt word scams (d′ = 0.35). Study 2 found that adding time pressure and ticket scarcity cues did not significantly affect fraud detection. Study 3 tested two scam-focused interventions; both significantly increased detection sensitivity and reduced false alarms relative to a control condition. Regression analyses showed that analytical reasoning, impulsiveness, and risk-taking did not meaningfully improve detection performance. In contrast, likelihood of purchasing tickets consistently predicted outcomes, likely reflecting generally poor task performance. Overall, these findings demonstrate limitations in consumers’ ability to detect fraudulent tickets.
A Computational Analysis of Millions of Scam and Spam Robocalls Targeting Older Adults and the General Public
Robocalls remain a dominant channel for spam (commercial solicitations) and scams (attempts to steal money or information), yet their psychological characteristics at scale remain poorly understood. In this project, the authors leveraged a massive honeypot of 295,749 decoy phone lines to analyze 4.49 million transcripts over five years (2018–2022). Scam robocalls employed stronger persuasion tactics than spam solicitations, showing higher emotional arousal, time pressure, threats of loss, and appeals to authority. Scams targeting older adults leaned on these tactics even more heavily, which is concerning given many of these tactics are linked to scam susceptibility in older adults. Given the honeypot data pre-date the widespread availability of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, the authors will discuss current work on how AI may change robocall scams and what that means for consumer vulnerability.
If you are interested to present you research, please contact us.
Hosted by
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External speaker
Ryan Moore Assistant Professor @ University of Texas at AustinE
Ryan Moore is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin. His research examines media and technology use across the lifespan, with a particular focus on older adults. He is interested in identifying how individuals—especially older adults—can effectively use media and technology to pursue everyday goals, as well as understanding ways to help build resilience to online threats such as scams and other forms of deception. Ryan uses a variety of methods in his work, including large-scale digital trace data, online and lab experiments, surveys, content analysis, and computational linguistics. He has received top paper awards from the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, and his dissertation received the Nathan Maccoby Dissertation Award from Stanford University.
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External speaker
Yaniv Hanoch Professor of Decision Science @ University of WolverhamptonE
Yaniv Hanoch is a decision scientist with an interdisciplinary background. Professor Hanoch's research examines decision-making and risk-taking across the lifespan and domains. In particular, he has been investigating the underlying mechanisms involved in falling prey to scams and what can be done to improve resilience to scam solicitations. He is also involved in projects focusing on spreading misinformation and on what can be done to protect individuals from misinformation. In addition, he is interested in questions regarding health/medical decision-making, such as the impact of optimism bias on risk perception; how lifespan changes impact risk-taking and decision-making across domains; and decisions regarding sustainability (e.g., meat consumption). He has published extensively in economic, public health and psychology journals.
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Team member
Jorij Abraham Managing Director @ Global Anti-Scam AllianceT
Jorij Abraham is Managing Director of the Global Anti Scam Alliance, whose mission is to prevent consumers worldwide from getting scammed. Before, he has been Managing Director of ScamAdviser.com, Director of Research at Thuiswinkel.org (the Dutch Ecommerce Association) and Ecommerce Europe.
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External speaker
Doug Shadel Managing Director @ Fraud Prevention StrategiesE
Doug Shadel, PhD, is a former fraud investigator and special assistant attorney general with the Washington State Attorney General’s office. He served as the State Director for AARP Washington for almost 20 years and as Strategy Director for AARP's Fraud Watch Network. Shadel has collaborated on numerous studies and books about fraud. Recent publications include the AARP Fraud Frontier Report (2021), The AARP Fraud Fighter Handbook (2024) and Dangerous Dialers: An In-Depth Look into the Shady World of Phone Fraud (2025) with former Nomorobo CEO Aaron Foss. He has testified before Congress on how to prevent financial exploitation of the elderly and as an expert witness in criminal jury trials against alleged scammers. Shadel is currently Managing Director of Fraud Prevention Strategies, LLC, a Seattle-based firm.
Global Anti-Scam Alliance
It takes a network to beat a network.The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) is a non-profit dedicated to protecting consumers from online scams. We unite governments, industry, and experts to share insights, strengthen collaboration, and advance effective anti-scam solutions worldwide. Learn more at gasa.org.
