The Fraud Economy Has a Supply Chain, and Erin West Is Going After It

Erin West, founder and president of Operation Shamrock, is targeting a vast and complex scam economy that preys on U.S. consumers. According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, 21% of U.S. consumers, or about 57 million people, have been scammed in the past five years. The average loss is $9,734, with 1.1% of victims losing $250,000 or more.

Scam compounds are organized crime syndicates with multiple operations, each run like a separate company. They have been operating in Southeast Asia for years, with each location rented and run independently. The scammers are highly professional and use pre-tested scripts. Artificial intelligence is now being used to clone voices, smooth accents, and generate deepfakes, which could change where the work is done but not the structure of the scam compounds.

The scam economy has suppliers, including local residents who clean, cook, and run convenience stores for the scammers. The global supply chain is much larger and mostly legitimate, providing phone numbers, social media accounts, messaging apps, bank accounts, crypto rails, and a way to move stolen money across borders. Each component is a service provided by someone.

Operation Shamrock aims to educate, mobilize against, and disrupt transnational organized crime. The disruption involves targeting the dependencies that the scammers rely on, such as banks, technology companies, and telecom providers. West believes that improving data sharing between public agencies and private companies is crucial to understanding and measuring the problem, as well as finding ways to combat it.

Currently, fraud reporting is low, with 11% of victims not reporting their scams due to unawareness or lack of guidance.