Back in the day my favourite sitcom was WKRP in Cincinnati. It featured the well-meaning but clueless staff of a struggling radio station. My favourite episode was a Thanksgiving special. In this Station Manager Mr. Carlson decides, in a completely misguided promotion, to launch live turkeys from a helicopter. The result is captured in his hilarious line “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” I used to think that in real life no one would be that naive.
It is easy to laugh at a sitcom character, but in the real world, the joke is often on us, and it is far from funny. Modern fraudsters are master storytellers. They rely on sophisticated social engineering to make the impossible—like a free latest-model smartphone or a 90% discount seem completely plausible. They create a momentary reality where turkeys can genuinely fly, and by the time we remember the power of gravity, the damage has been done.
Because these scams operate across borders and networks, no single company can fight them alone. This is where the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) steps in, not just as an observer, but as the convening force for the industry. We bring together fierce competitors, mobile operators, aggregators, and tech providers, to share intelligence and build a united defence. Our goal is to ensure that while turkeys might not fly, the mobile ecosystem remains grounded in trust.
The Crash Site: Counting the Cost
In WKRP, the damage was limited to a smashed car window and a lot of feathers. In our industry, the “crash site” is global, and the damage is measured in billions.
Black Friday is not just a retail event; it is the Super Bowl for fraudsters. The volume of attacks during this period is staggering. According to data from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Action Fraud, UK shoppers lost over £11.5 million to online criminals between November 2023 and January 2024 alone. That is not just loose change; the average loss per victim was nearly £700.
Lloyds Bank analysis found that purchase scams surge by 29% around Black Friday, and many are targeted strikes. Just as Mr. Carlson thought he was creating a spectacle, fraudsters are creating a spectacle of legitimate-looking commerce.
It is important to remember that this seasonal spike is a symptom of a chronic condition. The numbers are sobering. According to the Mobile Ecosystem Forum’s (MEF) Anti-Fraud Yearbook 2024, global fraud losses reached an estimated $1.026 trillion in 2023 – roughly 1.05% of global GDP lost to the “crash.”
MEF’s 10th Annual Consumer Trust Study also highlights the human cost: 47% of consumers reported receiving spam texts in the last year, and 38% specifically reported receiving fraudulent messages. This constant bombardment erodes trust, making users wary of even legitimate mobile engagement.
So, who is piloting the chopper? Today’s fraud is driven by organized crime syndicates equipped with enterprise-grade technology. They are leveraging AI to polish their scripts, removing the grammatical errors/typos that used to be the tell-tale signs of a scam. They are using automation to scale their attacks, ensuring that for every savvy shopper who spots the trap, thousands more are put at risk.
The Rescue Team: A United Front
In the sitcom, the “rescue” was just Mr. Carlson running away from an angry crowd. In reality, the rescue requires a sophisticated, coordinated defence. This is where the industry is fighting back, moving from reactive firefighting to proactive prevention.
The cornerstone of this defence is the MEF’s Best Practices to Enable Trusted Business Messaging. This isn’t just a set of suggestions; it is a blueprint for a harmonized global defence. The philosophy is simple but powerful: fraud ignores borders, so our defence must be equally borderless. We are building a cross-sector coalition where mobile operators, regulators, law enforcement, and industry associations like MEF work as a single unit.
The most visible part of this fight for the consumer is the protection of “Sender IDs.” The Sender ID is the name that appears on your phone screen—it is the digital equivalent of a pilot’s uniform. Fraudsters have long exploited this, dressing up their scams in the uniforms of trusted delivery companies or banks.
Under the new best practices, MEF is implementing rigorous “Right-To-Use” (RTU) checks. Before a brand can send a message, they must prove they are who they say they are. It is a strict “verify, then trust” model, grounding the fake pilots before they can take off.
However, verifying a sender in one country is not enough if they can simply hop to a network in a neighbouring region to launch their attack. This is why MEF emphasizes “Global Registry Coordination”. By harmonizing requirements across different markets and sharing intelligence between national registries, we shrink the hiding spots for bad actors.
This initiative represents a fundamental shift. We are creating a chain of trust that includes everyone from the brand sending the message to the operator delivering it. It ensures that when a Black Friday deal lands in your inbox, it is a genuine offer, not a turkey in disguise.
Nicholas Rossman is a Programme Director at The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), a global trade body established in 2000 and headquartered in the UK with members across the world.
