Microsoft, Google, and Apple are being probed over online scam protections

Online scams have become a big deal in recent years, with millions affected by them in numerous ways. A few months ago, the FBI reported that scammers are using AI-generated voices to impersonate government officials in their attacks. Meanwhile, the Google Play Store hosted 20 crypto phishing applications and a third-party Windows reinstallation tool that holds your operating system hostage until you pay $13 as a "service fee". Now, the European Union (EU) is investigating how well certain tech companies are protecting their customers against online financial scams.

Financial Times reports (paywall) that the EU is sending formal requests to three U.S. companies and one European company to gain insights into how they protect users against online scams. The firms in question are Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Booking.com. Apple will primarily be scrutinized for its App Store practices, Microsoft will be held responsible for Bing, and Google will be accountable for both the Play Store and Google Search. Meanwhile, Booking.com will be probed for how it handles fake listings.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen emphasized that the region loses over €4 billion per year to financial scams propagated online, with the problem further aggravated due to the rise of AI. The executive is quoted as saying:

We see that more and more criminal actions are taking place online. We have to make sure that online platforms really take all their efforts to detect and prevent that kind of illegal content.

Companies found liable of having inadequate protections for customers against online financial scams may be fined by courts. That said, such a move may strain relations with the U.S. further.

Some of the firms being probed by the EU are already active in the area of scam protection. Apple claims to have saved its users from $9 billion lost in fraudulent transactions over the past five years, while Google has also bolstered its protection particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where its charitable arm has contributed $5 million earlier this month too.