On 27th January, Donna Gregory, Unit Chief at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) was honored as Scam Fighter Person of the Year 2022. ScamWatch, an initiative of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), received the Scam Fighter Award for the best scam-fighting organization. 

Fighting Scams for 20+ Years

The Scam Fighter Awards are organized annually by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) together with  ScamAdviser, to bring more attention to the importance of fighting online fraud worldwide. According to GASA, last year nearly $ 50 billion was lost by consumers worldwide in online scams. The number of reported scams increased from 139 million to 266 million.

The independent Jury, consisting of Peter Depuydt (former Europol), Mitchel Chang (Trend Micro), and Cindy Liebes (Cybercrime Support Network), selected Donna Gregory, based on several dozens of nominations from the law enforcement and scam-fighting community, as Scam Fighter Person of the Year 2022. 

Donna is Unit Chief at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and leads a team of cyber and criminal division specialists. She has been with the IC3 since its inception in 2000. Her primary focus is working with both the private and public sector to develop effective alliances, define growing trends, and ensure IC3-filed information is processed for law enforcement and public awareness. 

Peter Depuydt elaborated the decision of the jury: "Donna has been an asset to the law enforcement and scam fighting community by building bridges between law enforcement agencies globally as well as with the private sector. In addition, the annual IC3 reports have been extremely supportive to gain more global attention towards the need to fight online fraud."

Fighting Fraud from Down Under

ScamWatch has received the Scam Fighter Award 2022 for the organization's category. The initiative is managed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). ScamWatch provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognize, avoid and report scams. In 2021, ScamWatch received 272 thousand scam reports, reporting a total loss of AU$ 280 million.

Jury member Cindy Liebes commented: "After consideration of many excellent organizations, we selected ScamWatch for its role in providing excellent and comprehensive information about how to recognize, avoid and report scams." Mitchel Chang added: "ScamWatch also has taken on a central role in coordinating scam fighting, not only in Australia but also internationally. As a result, Australia is taking a leading role in the combat against online fraud globally."

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Press contact: jorij.abraham@gasa.org.