TIME reached out to the State Department for comment.
What obstacles stand in the way of providing better protections for Americans?
Sando says that within the private sector, there is “a lack of clear ownership and responsibility,” making it difficult to provide more protection.
“Scams can span multiple platforms,” she says. “Preventing and detecting scams to protect consumers requires a coordinated group effort across multiple industries—including financial services, telcos, and social media.”
In a perfect world, Sando continues, the government would coordinate these efforts and set clear standards for private institutions. She describes its ideal role as “facilitating relevant information-sharing, tracking consistent scam attempts and losses, [reporting] recovery rates for victims, and [adding] measures that are working to reduce the effectiveness of scams.”
Social media companies, in particular, need to be incentivized to address “fraudulent ads and impersonation profiles/accounts,” she says.