From Scam Ads to Scam Journeys: A New International Framework for Collective Action

by Ivan Vandermeersch, Honorary Secretary General of BAM (Belgian Association of Marketing)

As digital fraud continues to evolve, the marketing ecosystem faces a growing challenge: how to protect consumers while preserving trust in legitimate advertising. The publication of the new Best Practices for Combating Scams in Advertising by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) marks an important step forward by providing a practical framework for collective action across the digital value chain.

For BAM, the initiative also reflects a broader evolution in thinking that has been actively supported by Belgian stakeholders in recent years. Moving beyond a narrow focus on fraudulent advertisements alone, the discussion increasingly recognises the importance of understanding the entire scam journey and the need for coordinated responses across the wider ecosystem.

The framework arrives at a crucial moment. Scam advertising has become one of the most significant threats to trust in the digital economy. While fraudulent advertisements often represent the first point of contact between criminals and consumers, the resulting harm extends far beyond a single advertisement, platform or transaction. As the ICC framework rightly recognises, effective prevention requires coordinated action across the entire ecosystem.

This ecosystem perspective closely reflects discussions that BAM has actively supported in recent years. Through its engagement in international policy and self-regulatory discussions, BAM has consistently advocated for a broader understanding of digital fraud. Rather than viewing scams as isolated incidents, this approach examines the entire 'scam journey': the sequence of interactions, technologies and actors that enable fraud to occur.

Belgian experts and organisations, in collaboration with European and international players such as ICC and FEDMA, have played an active role in helping shape this broader perspective within international discussions. In particular, they contributed to articulating the concept of the "scam journey" an ecosystem-based understanding of digital fraud that looks beyond isolated scam advertisements and examines how multiple actors, technologies and touchpoints interact throughout the consumer experience. This perspective has helped reinforce the case for greater cooperation across the digital ecosystem and is reflected in the spirit of the new ICC framework. This collective approach will continue to be taken forward by industry organisations at national and European level, including within FEDMA, to further strengthen cooperation across the marketing ecosystem.

The scam journey perspective highlights an important reality. Fraud rarely starts and ends with a fake advertisement. It often involves multiple intermediaries, platforms, payment systems, communication channels and identity mechanisms. Addressing only one element of this chain may reduce symptoms, but lasting solutions require cooperation across the wider ecosystem.

This thinking is increasingly relevant for marketing professionals. Many of the challenges facing our industry today, from artificial intelligence and data governance to consumer trust, fraud prevention and online safety cannot be solved by one stakeholder acting alone. They require collaboration between advertisers, agencies, digital platforms, financial institutions, regulators, law enforcement authorities and self-regulatory bodies.

The new ICC framework embraces exactly this philosophy. It promotes risk-based advertiser verification, ongoing monitoring, enhanced safeguards for high-risk sectors, transparency mechanisms and stronger reporting systems. Above all, it emphasises information sharing, cross-sector cooperation and collective defence against increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.

For BAM, the publication of this framework represents an important milestone. It demonstrates how international self-regulation continues to evolve in response to emerging risks while preserving the trust that underpins legitimate advertising and marketing activities.

As digital fraud becomes more sophisticated, the answer will not come from any single actor. It will come from stronger cooperation, shared responsibility and a better understanding of the entire scam journey. The new ICC framework provides a valuable roadmap for that collective effort.