Fight Scams by Putting the Focus Where It Belongs

By Jennifer Regan

Jennifer Regan is the owner of The Essenza House, a premier women’s wellness destination located in the heart of Buffalo.

Scams have become part of daily life. Every week brings another story about someone losing money to a fake text, a false ad or a phone call from an imposter that sounds real. A recent Pew study found that 73% of U.S. adults have experienced some kind of online scam or attack, and nearly one third report it happened in the last year. Just this month, we learned of a Buffalo man who lost $10,000 after his checks were stolen from the mail and erased, so that the crooks could make the checks out to themselves. 

Jennifer Regan

 The problem of scams is serious, and it deserves attention from our elected leaders. The good news is that many New York officials are already focused on this problem. The bad news is that too often our leaders are focused on the wrong people and creating new, unintended victims as a result.

 When it comes to stopping scams, it is important to remember that the real threat is not the person who clicks the wrong link or the medium where the scam takes place. It is the criminals who set the trap. Unfortunately, too many public efforts to stop scams place the burden on the people being targeted or on the companies that provide the tools over which scams take place. 

 New Yorkers, for example, are told to be more careful and to stay alert. That helps, but it is not enough. No one can spot every scam. The people behind these crimes are professionals. Many operate overseas and use technology to hide their tracks. They work around the clock to trick honest people and small businesses out of their money. Education is important, but we cannot stop there. 

 In the same vein, some policymakers want to hold technology platforms responsible for scams they did not commit. The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against Zelle is one example. The case argues that Zelle should be obligated to cover the scams that take place on its platform. 

I understand the frustration. Losing money to a scam is painful. But holding payment platforms responsible for criminal acts misses the real problem and will create additional headaches for small business owners like me.  

 I own a small business in Buffalo. I accept payments through apps because they are fast, secure and simple. With Zelle, I can accept payments from customers without any fees or delays accessing the money. If platforms like Zelle were forced to cover every scam that happens on their network, they will have to change how they operate. They might raise costs, limit transactions, delay payments or stop serving small businesses altogether. Any of these actions would make it harder for me to earn a living and serve my customers.

 The New York lawsuit is an example of how officials are fighting scams with the wrong focus. Instead of going after the crooks, they tell people to watch their backs or tell tech companies to clean up the mess. Sometimes, they even leave local police with the impossible mission of chasing crooks halfway around the world. None of that will solve the problem where it starts. 

If we want to stop scams, we have to focus on the people committing the crimes. That means giving law enforcement the resources to track down the people behind these schemes. It means building cooperation between state, federal, and international agencies. It means encouraging industries ranging from financial services to social media to telecom to work with the government to share information and stop these operations before they reach us.

 Scams are not the fault of people who fall victim. Nor are they created by the tools that help small businesses operate. Scams are the product of criminals who exploit our communities. If we put our energy into stopping these criminals, we can protect consumers, strengthen trust and keep small businesses in Buffalo and across the country growing.