Scams, Misinformation, Hate Speech: Problems of Social Media
In 2024, online scams and cybercrime caused record losses in the United States, with scammers and cybercriminals stealing more than $16.6 billion from victims — an increase of approximately 33% compared to 2023, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. More than three-quarters of U.S. adults say they have experienced some form of online scam or attack, including credit card fraud, ransomware, and fake online shopping issues.
Online fraud and attacks span many digital channels: nearly half of U.S. adults report fraudulent charges on their credit or debit cards, while significant numbers have had accounts hacked or provided personal information through scams, highlighting the widespread nature of digital threats.
In the U.S., identity theft continues to be a major issue, with hundreds of thousands of imposter scam complaints filed in 2024. Online shopping scams, business and job offer fraud, investment fraud and other scam types contributed to substantial losses for American consumers.
Solution: Social Network with 100% Verified Accounts
Faced with the constant rise of scams, Marcos Yoshito Kasahara questioned how he could reduce the number of people harmed by digital fraud. He realized that anonymity on the internet is a key problem, because criminals always use fake profiles that make them difficult to identify. The use of false profiles and excessive anonymity has created a scenario in which lack of accountability has become the rule, facilitating crimes and undermining trust among people.
Thus, he came up with the idea of creating a social network based on a simple principle: all accounts must be verified. By ensuring that each profile represents a real person, this approach makes it harder for scammers, reduces abuse, and restores credibility to online interactions, offering a safer alternative for users.
Concept of White Web
The White Web is a concept of a controlled environment within the internet. Unlike the Dark Web, where anonymity is the rule and hinders accountability, in the White Web all community participants are 100% identified, creating a safe space for online interactions.
The idea stems from the principle that we cannot rely solely on people’s goodwill to maintain a safe environment, as demonstrated by events like the September 11 terrorist attacks. After those attacks, aviation adopted rigorous and universal security screenings, making air travel one of the safest forms of transportation in the world. In a similar way, the White Web functions like a modern airport — all participants are identified, drastically reducing abuse, fraud and threats in the digital space.
The trade-off is giving up a degree of privacy. However, this cost is relatively small considering the current reality: personal data already circulates widely on the internet through data leaks, compromised databases, or commercial use of information. In practice, absolute privacy no longer exists. On the other hand, excessive anonymity has served criminals much more than ordinary citizens, because it prevents fraudsters and abusers from being identified. The White Web proposes reversing this logic, prioritizing collective security and digital responsibility.
Join Our Community!
If you have also been a victim or are tired of hearing about digital crimes, join Verismile and help make the internet a safer place. Here, every person is real, every interaction matters, and trust is the foundation of everything. By joining us, you help build a new standard for the web, where safety comes before anonymity and communities are formed by people who take responsibility for their actions.
- https://www.fbiic3.gov/ (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center)
- https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/07/31/online-scams-and-attacks-in-america-today/
- https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/new-ftc-data-show-big-jump-reported-losses-fraud-125-billion-2024