Data: Thanksgiving Day Will See Peak Fraud Attempts

New data shows a projected 14 percent increase in fraud attempts during the upcoming 2018 holiday season — with fraud likely to peak on Thanksgiving Day.

The data, from ACI Worldwide, is based on hundreds of millions of merchant transactions.

“The first step to fighting fraud is knowing what you’re up against,” Erika Dietrich, global director of payments risk at ACI Worldwide, said in a press release. “Fraudsters prepare for peak holiday season just as much as merchants and consumers do. By anticipating the increase in fraud during the holiday shopping season, and being aware of where fraudsters may be lurking, consumers and merchants can get ahead of fraudulent activity and protect themselves.”

The data shows that in addition to traditional online channels, “buy online, pick up in-store” and call centers will be a prime focus for fraudsters, while the attempted fraud average ticket price is expected to increase 3 percent from $236 to $243.

As for Thanksgiving, the volume of transactions is expected to increase 23 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, and the volume of fraud attempts is projected to be at 1.80 percent. Black Friday will see a 19 percent increase in transactions compared to last year, while the volume of fraud attempts is estimated at 1.30 percent. And Cyber Monday’s volume of transactions will increase 14 percent, with the volume of fraud attempts expected to be 0.93 percent.

“As the market matures and EMV technology makes card-present fraud harder, we expect overall fraud attempts to increase at a lower rate this year than they did in the last two years,” Dietrich said. “In addition, as more consumers purchase big ticket items like smartphones, TVs and other electronics, we expect the attempted fraud average ticket price to be higher this year than in previous years.”

“Fraudsters will keep an eye on items that have limited inventory as it gives them an additional opportunity to steal and sell those items on the black market for a higher price, so consumers and merchants alike must be vigilant in such cases,” she added.