Scam Reporting Agent
Scam Reporting Agent
Consumers lost over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 according to the FTC, a 25% increase from the prior year, yet the vast majority of scam incidents still go unreported. The gap between actual fraud and reported fraud is enormous because victims feel embarrassed, confused about where to report, or overwhelmed by lengthy reporting forms. This AI agent replaces intimidating fraud report forms with a guided, conversational experience that walks victims through their scam story step by step. Banks, consumer protection agencies, and financial regulators can deploy it to dramatically increase the volume and quality of fraud reports they collect, building the data foundation needed to detect emerging scam patterns and protect more consumers.
Scam Reporting Agent
Measurable improvements for banks, regulators, and consumer protection organizations that automate fraud incident collection.
The FTC estimates that only about 5% of fraud victims formally report their experience. The primary barriers are shame, confusion about where to report, and friction in the reporting process itself. A conversational AI agent addresses all three: it normalizes reporting, provides a clear entry point, and eliminates multi-page form friction. Financial institutions using chatbot-led intake processes see 2.4x higher completion rates compared to static forms. For a bank that currently receives 200 fraud reports per month through web forms, that translates to approximately 480 completed reports, creating a far richer dataset for fraud pattern detection.
Freeform fraud reports vary wildly in quality. Some victims write a single sentence while others submit pages of unstructured text. Neither is ideal for analysis. The AI agent produces consistently structured reports with categorized scam types, timestamps, contact methods, financial impact figures, and follow-up consent status. This structured data feeds directly into fraud analytics platforms, reducing the manual processing time that investigation teams spend cleaning and categorizing reports. Organizations report saving 15-25 minutes per incident report when switching from freeform submission to conversational intake.
When scam reports arrive pre-categorized with consistent data fields, fraud intelligence teams can identify emerging patterns weeks earlier than with unstructured reporting. If a new phishing campaign targeting your institution's customers begins generating reports, the structured data surfaces it in dashboards immediately rather than waiting for an analyst to manually connect the dots. Earlier detection means earlier alerts to customers, potentially preventing thousands of additional victims. Industry data suggests that banks with automated fraud reporting systems reduce fraud losses by 20-30% compared to those relying solely on manual reporting channels.
Scam Reporting Agent
features
Capabilities designed specifically for collecting fraud incident data from emotionally affected consumers.
The agent uses branching conversation logic to identify and classify the type of fraud based on the victim's answers. It distinguishes between phishing, vishing, smishing, authorized push payment fraud, romance scams, investment scams, impersonation schemes, and advance fee fraud. Each classification triggers tailored follow-up questions that capture the specific details investigators need. This structured taxonomy means your fraud team receives pre-categorized reports instead of raw text that requires manual triage.
Fraud victims often experience emotional responses similar to those of crime victims, including shame, anger, and self-blame. The agent is designed with trauma-informed principles: it uses non-judgmental language, avoids questions that imply the victim should have known better, and provides validation throughout the process. Response pacing is deliberately measured, giving users time to recall details without feeling rushed. This approach yields both higher completion rates and more detailed, accurate reports.
Some victims are willing to share their scam story but not their identity, especially in cases involving romance fraud or elder exploitation where stigma is high. The agent supports configurable anonymity levels, allowing organizations to collect detailed incident data even from victims who decline to provide personal details. Tars is SOC 2 Type 2 certified with data encryption in transit and at rest, and configurable data retention policies ensure compliance with consumer data protection regulations including GDPR and CCPA.
Scam victims do not always know where to report. By deploying the agent across multiple touchpoints, including your website, WhatsApp, and standalone landing pages linked from email or SMS alerts, you meet victims where they already are. Banks can embed the agent directly in their online banking portal or mobile app. Consumer protection agencies can link to it from awareness campaigns. WhatsApp deployment is particularly effective for reaching older adults, who are disproportionately targeted by phone and text scams and may prefer a messaging-based interface over web forms.
Scam Reporting Agent
Three steps to turn reluctant fraud victims into detailed incident reporters.
Scam Reporting Agent
FAQs
Traditional fraud reporting forms have extremely low completion rates because they feel impersonal and overwhelming to people who are already emotionally distressed. An AI-powered conversational agent guides victims through the reporting process one question at a time, uses empathetic language, and adapts its questions based on the type of scam being reported. Financial services organizations using conversational intake see 2.4x higher form completion rates than static alternatives. The result is more reports, more detailed data, and a better experience for the victim.
The agent is configured with branching logic that covers the most common fraud categories: phishing and email fraud, vishing (phone scams), smishing (text message scams), authorized push payment fraud, romance and relationship scams, investment and cryptocurrency scams, tech support scams, impersonation of banks or government agencies, and advance fee schemes. The conversation flow adapts based on which category the victim's experience matches, asking relevant follow-up questions specific to that scam type.
Yes. The agent supports configurable anonymity levels. Organizations can choose to require identification, make it optional, or allow fully anonymous reporting. This is particularly important for scam types that carry social stigma, such as romance fraud or elder exploitation. Anonymous reports still capture detailed incident data including scam type, contact method, timeline, and financial impact, which contributes to pattern detection even without personally identifiable information.
Tars integrates natively with Salesforce and HubSpot, and connects to over 1,500 additional tools through Zapier, including Google Sheets, Jira, and custom databases via webhooks. Each completed scam report can be automatically routed to your fraud investigation case management system with all fields pre-mapped. The agent can also trigger real-time alerts to your fraud team via Slack or email when reports matching specific criteria come in, enabling faster response to active fraud campaigns.
Tars is SOC 2 Type 2 certified with ISO 27001 compliance, and all data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. The platform supports GDPR and CCPA compliance with configurable data retention and deletion policies. For regulated financial institutions, this means scam report data meets the same security standards as other customer data within your environment. You maintain full control over data storage locations and access permissions.
According to the FTC, US consumers reported losing over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, representing a 25% increase from the prior year. Investment scams accounted for the largest losses at $5.7 billion, followed by imposter scams at $2.95 billion. However, these figures only reflect reported fraud. The actual total is believed to be significantly higher since industry estimates suggest only about 5% of fraud victims file formal reports. This massive underreporting gap is precisely why organizations need lower-friction reporting tools.
Yes. The AI agent is fully responsive on mobile browsers and can be deployed via WhatsApp, website embed, or standalone landing page. WhatsApp deployment is particularly valuable for scam reporting because it reaches demographics that are heavily targeted by fraud, including older adults who are more comfortable with messaging apps than navigating web forms. Banks can also link to the agent directly from fraud alert SMS messages, making it easy for a customer who receives a suspicious activity notification to immediately report what happened.
Most organizations have their scam reporting agent live within days. Tars provides pre-configured conversation flows for fraud incident collection that your team customizes with your institution's specific scam categories, branding, routing rules, and follow-up messaging. No coding is required. Your fraud operations team can update the conversation content at any time as new scam types emerge or reporting requirements change, keeping the agent current without IT involvement.
Privacy & Security
At Tars, we take privacy and security very seriously. We are compliant with GDPR, ISO, SOC 2, and HIPAA.
Email - sales@hellotars.com
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