Phone scam unveiled: insights from a systematic literature review

Purpose This study aims to review systematically over ten years of journal articles on phone scams to understand why people from all walks of life fall prey to phone scams and how important it is to devise effective prevention strategies to minimize the incidents of scams. Design/methodology/approach Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement review method, a systematic review of the Scopus, Web of Sciences and Google Scholar databases was conducted, resulting in 23 relevant studies published between 2014 and 2024. Findings An in-depth analysis of the selected articles uncovered five primary themes: the interpretation of phone scams, scamming techniques, scam vulnerability, reporting attitudes and self-protection practices. An integrated, multi-stakeholder approach is essential to effectively combat phone scams, enhance consumer protection and build societal resilience against evolving fraud tactics. Originality/value Phone scam operations represent a form of impersonation fraud, usually use artificial intelligence technologies and sophisticated social engineering methods to deceive the victims. This study emphasizes the significance of self-protection measures as a way of protecting oneself against phone scams, as no individual is immune to such scams.