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F‑Secure launched its Scam Encyclopedia on October 15, 2026, as a continuously updated guide to more than 50 types of online fraud aimed at individual consumers and households. Instead of organizing entries only by the technology a criminal uses, the encyclopedia starts with what a victim is led to believe, then follows the lure, request and money-extraction step.
What the Scam Encyclopedia covers
F‑Secure describes a scam as online criminal deception carried out for financial gain. The stated scope is limited to consumers and households. In-person fraud and electronic fraud that does not use the internet are outside the encyclopedia’s definition, so the catalogue is not a general database of every kind of fraud.
The overview says the living guide contains more than 50 scam types, eight broad categories, over 50 scam indicators and reusable scam templates. Its categories include:
| Category | Examples of situations covered |
|---|---|
| Investment scams | Fraudulent opportunities that persuade victims to send money or assets for supposed returns |
| Product and service scams | Deceptive offers involving goods, repairs or other services |
| Social-media and shopping scams | Fraud delivered through social platforms, marketplaces or online shops |
| Romance scams | Relationship-building used to create trust before a financial request |
| Prize and sweepstakes scams | Claims that a victim has won something but must pay or provide information first |
| Debt scams | False debt-relief, collection or repayment demands |
| Charity scams | Impersonated or fabricated causes seeking donations |
| Other consumer-fraud patterns | Additional online schemes that do not fit one of the named groups |
The catalogue was marked last updated September 30, 2026, and the indicators page September 29, 2026. Those dates can change because F‑Secure says the encyclopedia will be revised as new methods are identified.
How the victim-first method works
Traditional taxonomies often classify fraud by the attacker’s tool—such as phishing, malware or a particular platform. F‑Secure’s method follows the victim’s point of view instead. An entry starts with the false situation the victim is encouraged to believe, describes what the person sees, hears or is asked to do, and identifies where the interaction takes place.
The sequence shown in each entry
- Belief: identify the apparently legitimate event, relationship, offer or problem.
- Contact and presentation: show the messages, profile, call, advert or other contact used to make the story credible.
- Request: explain what the victim is asked to click, disclose, install, transfer or pay.
- Extraction: identify how the criminal obtains money, account access, identity data or another valuable outcome.
This approach is intended to make a recurring pattern recognizable even when criminals move it to a new service. F‑Secure Principal Threat Intelligence Researcher Megan Squire said scammers generally reuse familiar tactics on whatever people are currently using, including dating apps, text messaging, social media and AI tools.
Indicators reveal the mechanics behind different scams
The encyclopedia’s indicator catalogue groups warning signs by four dimensions:
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- impersonation, including claims to represent a trusted person or organization;
- psychological pressure, such as urgency, fear, secrecy or promises of reward; and
- targeting methods that select or profile potential victims.
Indicators can recur across several categories. An advance-fee demand, for example, may appear in an employment, marketplace or prize scam. Looking for the underlying technique is therefore more useful than memorizing a single platform-specific example.
How to use the encyclopedia before sending money
- Describe the situation in plain language. Ask what you are being told is happening: a package problem, an investment opportunity, a romantic emergency, a job offer or something else.
- Separate the story from the action. Write down the exact request—payment, code, login, identity document, remote access or installation—without accepting the sender’s explanation as proof.
- Check the indicators. Look for pressure to act immediately, unusual payment instructions, secrecy, impersonation or a request that does not fit the supposed organization.
- Check the channel. A familiar brand name or social network does not authenticate the person contacting you; criminals can reuse the same script across messaging, marketplaces, dating services and AI-assisted interactions.
- Pause and verify independently. Contact the person or organization through a phone number, website or account you find yourself, not through details supplied in the suspicious message.
- Stop at the first unexplained payment. A demand for an upfront fee, release charge, tax, deposit or recovery payment is a pattern to investigate, not a reason to send more money.
Why the launch matters now
F‑Secure’s launch release says 52% of scam victims now lose money, more than double the rate reported one year earlier. The statistic is attributed to F‑Secure in 2026; it is not presented as a universal measurement of every country or population. Its significance is that recognizing a scam before the payment step is increasingly important.
A living, victim-centered catalogue can also address a weakness in static awareness lists: the platform changes faster than the underlying deception. A fake investment pitch can arrive through a new app, and a delivery, employment or prize story can be rewritten for a new audience while preserving the same pressure and payment mechanism.
What the encyclopedia does not claim
- It is not a complete catalogue of offline or non-internet fraud.
- The “50+” count is a current launch description, not a permanent total; entries and categories may change.
- Indicators are warning signs, not proof that every message containing one is fraudulent.
- A template or example explains a pattern; it does not replace checking the specific sender, account and payment destination.
Keeping the information current
Because F‑Secure labels the encyclopedia a continuously updated resource, readers should check the live catalogue rather than rely on a saved count or screenshot. The scam list and indicator list have separate update dates, and new entries may alter category totals or add techniques that overlap existing scams.
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