Millions of people receive alarming calls or text messages daily: “Your account is locked,” “Suspicious transaction detected,” “Confirm your identity immediately.” Most of us are used to ignoring this spam, but the scale of the problem is astonishing.
American financial giant Capital One decided not to just block such calls but filed an unusual lawsuit against anonymous scammers. Their main weapon? Accusations of trademark infringement.
Why Trademarks, Specifically? Typically, the fight against international phone scammers is the business of government regulators and law enforcement agencies. However, Capital One chose a different, quite creative legal path. The lawsuit, filed in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, is directed against ten “unknown persons or entities.” The bank accuses them of illegally using Capital One logos and names and its subsidiary Discover in their massive automated calling, SMS, and email campaigns. Using trademark law and unfair advertising is a strategic move. Thanks to the legal process of evidence disclosure, the bank gains legal leverage to subpoena non-public information. This will help track down anonymous networks and dismantle the infrastructure they use. Scale of the Threat: Numbers and Facts Scams based on pretending to be another person or an official institution have become a true epidemic. According to data from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for 2025, over 1 million complaints about such criminals were recorded, and overall consumer losses exceeded 3.5 billion dollars. The average loss per person amounted to 700 dollars. A survey by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) shows an even more concerning picture of everyday life: 70% of adult Americans encountered scammers over the last year. 29% of respondents indicated that they encounter similar attempts daily. “Legal War” against Transnational Crime Modern financial machinations have moved far beyond minor crime. A recent Interpol report emphasizes that scamming has become a hub for transnational organized crime that closely intersects with cybercrime and human trafficking. Niels Müller, director of GASA’s North American division, emphasizes that perpetrators specifically exploit jurisdictional loopholes. Located in one country, they rob citizens of another with impunity. This is why Capital One’s lawsuit is an important precedent for so-called “legal warfare.” It’s a clear signal to global scamming networks: hiding behind digital borders is becoming increasingly difficult, as large corporations begin hitting their technical communication channels.
Conclusion: Trademark as an Innovative Weapon against Crime Capital One’s decision to use trademark protection legislation to fight phone and internet scamming is a truly innovative step in legal practice. Traditionally, scamming is viewed within the framework of criminal law, where investigations are handled by government law enforcement. However, in the case of international networks, this process is often slowed down by bureaucracy and the complexity of jurisdictions. The originality and effectiveness of Capital One’s approach lies in the following:
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A Blow to the Mechanism of Trust: Any financial scammer’s main tool is recognition. They steal logos, brand colors, and names to lower the victim’s vigilance. By applying trademark law, the bank strikes at the very core of this manipulation, legally prohibiting perpetrators from using the brand’s “face.“
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A De-anonymization Tool: A civil lawsuit over intellectual property rights infringement opens access to the evidence disclosure procedure. This allows the bank, through the court, to demand from telecommunications operators, internet providers, domain registrars, and hosting services the disclosure of IP addresses, payment data, and names of those behind the fake sites or call centers.
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The Shift from Passivity to Active Attack: Private companies are no longer forced to just wait for the police to find criminals or spend millions solely on protective barriers. They gain the ability to independently destroy scammers’ digital infrastructure and block their communication channels. Using intellectual property law in this context is a type of legal “hack” that transforms a law initially created to protect business from unfair competitors into a tool to protect ordinary citizens. If Capital One’s strategy yields results, it could initiate a new global trend where large corporations start massively using their brands as a legal shield against transnational crime.
Founder of Research & Patent group Intectica, author of patent algorithms for solving problems in the pharmaceutical industry, patent attorney certified in all intellectual property objects (Patents, Design, TM), with education in chemistry and law, chief expert of the patent institution of Ukraine UKRPATENT (1997-2004). Member of international organizations, including ECTA, PTMG, UAM, lecturer and blogger.
