38% of Payments Fraud Victims Learn About the Incident the Same Day

More consumers returned to shopping in physical stores after the Thanksgiving holiday. Seventy-three percent reported shopping for their holiday purchases in stores in December, up from 71% in November, according to “Digital Economy Payments,” a PYMNTS report based on a survey of 3,070 U.S. consumers.

Get the report: Digital Economy Payments

This shift coincided with a slight decrease in consumers’ use of mobile devices to make online purchases. Twelve percent of consumers reported using their mobile devices to shop online in December, down from 14% in November. Meanwhile, 11% of consumers used laptop or desktop computers for online shopping, up from 10% in the previous month.

When shopping for travel services, however, most consumers use online channels. Among the consumers who made travel-related purchases, 44% did so online using a mobile device and 34% made the transaction online using a laptop or desktop computer.

PYMNTS research also found that 5% of consumers reported being victims of payments fraud in December.

Consumers who fell victim to payments fraud during the holiday season typically learned about the incidents within a week or less, with 38% learning about an incident on the same day it occurred and another 38% learning about it in between two and seven days after it occurred. Still, it took about one-quarter of payments fraud victims anywhere from eight days to more than a month to realize that they were victims of payments fraud.

Once consumers do realize that they are victims of payments fraud, most are quick to report it. Forty-three percent of payments fraud victims reported incidents the same day they became aware of them, while 30% reported incidents within two to seven days. The remaining quarter of payments fraud victims took anywhere from eight days to more than a month to report instances of fraud.