Account Protection Archives – Page 4 of 22 – Forter

The summer games are a sporting extravaganza of talent, suspense and color. To fraudsters, though, they only mean one thing: a potential opportunity for theft. The result is risk for both consumers and retailers. Here are the highlights to help you stay safe while enjoying the sports.

5 Top Fraud Risks for Consumers

Generative AI has changed the game when it comes to consumer risk, especially during events or seasons like the summer games, which often act as magnets for criminals. It’s not that fraudsters have access to completely new tricks and tools; they can now move a mile in a moment.

If they used to have to type out emails and chat messages for scams, they now have everything at their fingertips. If once making a new version of a video would have taken time and effort, now it’s instant.

While AI isn’t a good fraud instigator, it is a great fraud accelerator. Consumers need to be cautious, as well, when it comes to:

• Phishing: It doesn’t matter how convincing the email, call, social media message or text sounds; it could easily be fraud. Phishing attacks rose nearly 60% in 2023. With GenAI, to make it easy, it often is fraud. Never give your password or other account details out.
• Ticket scams: People are often particularly desperate to believe they’ve found the tickets they want during events like the summer games, and fraudsters know it. They capitalize on this psychological advantage by rushing consumers to grab the last tickets while they can. Don’t fall for counterfeits. Only buy from trusted sites and sellers. No matter how good the deal.
• Hacked accounts: Between the massive data breaches recently and the continued onslaught of phishing attacks, there’s a good chance some of your account details have been stolen. Follow best practices and advice to protect yourself. Add multi-factor authentication to accounts where you can, use strong passwords, never reuse passwords, and don’t ignore emails or messages asking if you’ve signed in recently.
• Travel deals: Many consumers don’t know this, but fake online travel agencies are very common in the fraud world. Criminals frequently invest in the site or app to look slick and real, and they often use channels like Facebook marketplace for advertising. Don’t let them fool you. If the offer is too good to be true, it usually is.
• Social engineering: With so many people traveling, fraudsters have a great opportunity to trick folks into believing that friends or family have run into trouble abroad and need them to send money quickly to help them out. GenAI makes creating fake videos and even videos in different languages easy and fast. Don’t fall for it.

Not catching that there’s a criminal targeting you can be costly in terms of the money lost and the time you have to spend afterward trying to fix the damage. It’s always better to take an extra minute to pause, think, and check. Track runners might be racing against the clock, but you’re not. Make a habit of giving yourself a moment to reflect before you click.

5 Top Fraud Risks for Merchants

Ticketing fraud is the first thing I think of when I consider a sporting event, and Forter’s data indicates that the ticket sector has a 6% fraud rate on transactions, so that’s not something the industry can afford to ignore.

That said, an event like the summer games opens up a wealth of other targets, so don’t let an emphasis on ticketing make you lose sight of other potential problems.

• ATO: The merchant flipside of the rise in phishing attacks and info stolen in breaches is the increased risk of ATO. That’s particularly relevant during times when many consumers are traveling because it’s harder to rely on account holders exhibiting typical behaviors (using their regular IP addresses, etc.). Ensure your systems are set for nuance and a focus on identity intelligence.
• Last-minute bookings: With excitement rising as sporting events progress and some athletes or teams doing better than expected, last-minute bookings are common. That said, with hospitality, last-minute bookings are up to 5x more dangerous than bookings for at least one week into the future. For travel, it’s almost x3 more dangerous.
• Loyalty programs: Travel and hospitality loyalty programs are among the best-known and often best-in-class of all loyalty programs. That’s great for consumers but also comes with risks for merchants. Make sure you’re protecting against abuse and fraud; otherwise, times with a lot of activity can be costly.
• Convenience versus security: When it’s easier for legitimate customers, things also get easier for fraudsters. If your company is investing in measures to make travel or purchases during the events as convenient as possible (digital keys, anyone?), make sure fraud is part of the discussions to protect your systems and customers.
• Accept good transactions: Generally speaking, for every $1 lost to fraud, merchants forfeit $30 in mistakenly declined transactions. Fraud prevention isn’t supposed to be revenue prevention. Saying yes to the right customers can be difficult during times like the summer games when everything looks different, but it’s worth the investment.

This is the first summer and period of summer games that we’re seeing now that fraudsters have had time to get used to generative AI and the boost it can give them and their schemes. I’ve said before that fraudsters using AI will replace fraudsters who can’t, and we may see that trend making a difference as early as this summer.

Merchants must be prepared to have their protections operate at scale if necessary to keep up with fraudsters and customers’ evolving expectations. Continued focus, research, and investment will keep your systems in peak condition for the summer games and beyond.

Doriel Abrahams is the Principal Technologist at Forter, where he monitors emerging trends in the fight against fraudsters, including new fraud rings, attacker MOs, rising technologies, etc. His mission is to provide digital commerce leaders with the latest risk intel so they can adapt and get ahead of what’s to come.