There are many layers that give life to the payments ecosystem. Each layer inherently affects the other, and any change tends to cause a chain-like reaction.
The growth of new payments technology prompts the need for security systems to be improved, and new security signals to fraudsters that they, too, must find a way to adapt. Security companies stress that their biggest concerns involve trying to keep up with new technology, along with finding ways to prevent new strategies that criminals are using to break into systems.
As such, perhaps security managers should consider that Europe’s rising fraud is merely a devil in a new dress.
This is what David Pope, European marketing director at Jumio, an
online and mobile identity verification and payments company, suggested when PYMNTS.com sat down with him to discuss financial crime in the European market. Pope explained that little has changed about how fraudsters operate. Often times they are up to the same old tricks, just modified for new technology.
“It’s important to understand how fraudsters think rather than to think purely about new threats and new exploits,” he explained.
Pope tells us that focusing on the strategies of a fraudster, and not new technology shifts, is the best way for companies to defend themselves from theft and future threats.
“Sometimes I think it’s good to use examples of how fraudsters do fraud, just to get inside the mind.”
Pope gave an example of a fictitious person he named Mr. Smith who was staying at a hotel. The fraudster will use a common surname in hopes of getting through to a random guest who is lodging by this name. When he has the poor soul on the line, the fraudster deceivingly explains that there have been issues with hotel payment, and successfully collects all the necessary data from the victim. The criminal now has phished all the info he needs to bypass online security measures for accounts.
Moving away from the mind of a criminal and back to technological concerns, Pope does point out that there should be more caution and security when it comes to mobile devices. This is especially true since smartphone penetration rates are continuing to rise across the continent.
Pope said that while he does try and place himself in the mind of a fraudster, there are other times when he reverts back to human nature. He warns of a common trap that consumers face when on their mobile device.
“When I transact on my phone I am frequently redirected to mobile-friendly URLs, and these URLs look different from desktop URLs. If I see something suspicious on my desktop, I’m out of there, but when I see it on a mobile I just think to myself it’s just mobile optimization, it must be okay,” he said.
The nature of the mobile phone and how it operates on Wi-Fi networks makes the technology inherently dangerous, especially in payments. Consumers assume mobile securities are sorted out for us and have the propensity to drop their guard.
Pope reminds managers and consumers both need to think practically about these mobile devices and how we use them in order to battle future fraud.
To hear more about what David Pope has to say about fraud solutions and Jumio, listen to the podcast below.
*If you have trouble with the audio player above, click here.
David Pope
European Marketing Director and identity expert
David Pope is the European Marketing Director and identity expert at Jumio. David brings nearly 20 years of experience in B2B technology marketing and for the last ten years has worked in the identity verification industry. David has expertise in ecommerce merchants, online gaming operators and financial services. David formerly worked at Experian Decision Analytics where he was UK Marketing Director and prior to that David was part of the management team at 192business, the leading ID verification and fraud prevention vendor which was acquired in 2011 by Experian.
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