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account takeover
Account takeover is a fast-growing form of identity theft. An account takeover (or ATO) is the malicious access of an online account, by a fraudster or bad actor, posing as a genuine customer, gaining control of an account, an making unauthorized transactions.
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2.6KFraud PreventionDeep Dive: How Data Provides Businesses With Competitive Analytics
Businesses from a wide variety of industries must handle troves of data as they continue to crack down on fraud. Making sense...
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5.3KFraud PreventionHow Handy Uses Data To Find Fraudsters Before They Strike
Fraudsters are constantly reinventing their approach to schemes, putting businesses and eCommerce merchants in a precarious position of responding to constantly-evolving fraud...
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8.2KDigital BankingU.S. Bank: Machine Learning Is Banks’ Best Bet Against Fraud
Banks lost about $4 billion to account takeover (ATO) fraud attempts last year and the losses are set to further increase as this...
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![If it seems like cases of fraud and hacking are always in the news, that’s because new incidents pop up practically every day. One of the latest involves hackers successfully accomplishing account takeovers (ATOs) of users of Zelle, the digital payment service. According to the new Digital Fraud Tracker, total losses due to fraud equaled $4.2 trillion in 2018, and fraudulent mobile app transactions increased 680 percent between 2015 and 2018. Fraud doesn’t impact all industries equally. According to the Digital Fraud Tracker, one-quarter of malware specifically targets FIs, and over 5 percent of online retail revenue is now lost to fraud. By 2020, it’s estimated that U.S. credit card losses will exceed $12 billion. More businesses are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology to fight fraud. According to the AI Innovation Playbook, 63.6 percent of FIs believe AI is an effective tool for stopping fraud before it happens, and 80 percent of fraud specialists using AI believe the technology could reduce payments fraud. Financial Institutions The rise of online banking has provided a host of opportunities for fraudsters. Old manual detection techniques like analyzing geolocations, IP addresses and discrepancies between billing and shipping addresses aren’t able to catch high-level attacks, and often result in false positives. BNY Mellon implemented an AI-based fraud detection initiative in 2018 to use pattern recognition and deep learning to analyze millions of transactions and identify those that are likely fraudulent. AI isn’t just used for fraud detection in the financial industry – it can also help with regulation compliance and adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) standards. Joseph Sieczkowski, head of technology architecture and data at BNY Mellon, explained how it isn’t enough to use AI reactively. Financial institutions also need to stay one step ahead of fraudsters, because they change techniques quickly and often. “[We] do testing constantly to retrain our models to be able to pick up on different types of fraudulent activities,” he said. Retail Balancing security with improving the customer experience is a challenge for all industries, though reducing friction is even more vital for luxury merchants. “Luxury retailers typically operate in a ‘high-touch’ environment, designed to be as friction-free for the customer as possible,” said Shamoun Siddiqui, chief information security officer of Neiman Marcus, in an interview with PYMNTS. “Any measure of security introduces friction. So, the challenge is to make security as transparent as possible while still protecting the customer’s personal information.” The luxury retailer has been using device fingerprinting to identify devices based on unique configurations – and, ultimately, to determine whether it’s being used by a human or is automated. “We are investing heavily in fraud detection systems that [use] machine learning and artificial intelligence to differentiate between normal patterns of customer behavior and potentially fraudulent ones,” Siddiqui said of the retailer’s approach to identity theft and other types of fraud. “These are patterns that would not be visible to the naked eye.” Fraudsters are getting more sophisticated, making use of bots to mimic typical online shopping behavior. After Neiman Marcus identified a bot attack, the hackers started including mouse movements to fool detection systems. Gaming Due to in-game purchasing becoming more standard – a recent study found that approximately half of all personal computer (PC) and console gamers spend money in-game, a share that climbs to more than 75 percent for mobile gamers – gaming platforms have become an attractive target for fraud, especially for hackers who acquire personal data via account takeovers. Gaming and gambling sites face similar issues, as too many security measures can turn off users who will go elsewhere. Some sites are reluctant to implement overly stringent security measures. Beyond using machine learning to detect fraud before it happens, gaming platforms are also using liveness detection, which requires players to be physically present during the verification process so they can submit photos, video playback or audio recordings to confirm their identities. Fingerprints, voice prints and other forms of biometric authentication are gaining steam in the arsenal of fraud-fighting tools. More than 63 percent of all smartphones manufactured in 2017 incorporated some type of biometric authentication, and a growing share of devices are expected to offer these solutions as fraud increases.](https://securecdn.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/digital-fraud-ai-tools-450x270.jpg)
![If it seems like cases of fraud and hacking are always in the news, that’s because new incidents pop up practically every day. One of the latest involves hackers successfully accomplishing account takeovers (ATOs) of users of Zelle, the digital payment service. According to the new Digital Fraud Tracker, total losses due to fraud equaled $4.2 trillion in 2018, and fraudulent mobile app transactions increased 680 percent between 2015 and 2018. Fraud doesn’t impact all industries equally. According to the Digital Fraud Tracker, one-quarter of malware specifically targets FIs, and over 5 percent of online retail revenue is now lost to fraud. By 2020, it’s estimated that U.S. credit card losses will exceed $12 billion. More businesses are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology to fight fraud. According to the AI Innovation Playbook, 63.6 percent of FIs believe AI is an effective tool for stopping fraud before it happens, and 80 percent of fraud specialists using AI believe the technology could reduce payments fraud. Financial Institutions The rise of online banking has provided a host of opportunities for fraudsters. Old manual detection techniques like analyzing geolocations, IP addresses and discrepancies between billing and shipping addresses aren’t able to catch high-level attacks, and often result in false positives. BNY Mellon implemented an AI-based fraud detection initiative in 2018 to use pattern recognition and deep learning to analyze millions of transactions and identify those that are likely fraudulent. AI isn’t just used for fraud detection in the financial industry – it can also help with regulation compliance and adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) standards. Joseph Sieczkowski, head of technology architecture and data at BNY Mellon, explained how it isn’t enough to use AI reactively. Financial institutions also need to stay one step ahead of fraudsters, because they change techniques quickly and often. “[We] do testing constantly to retrain our models to be able to pick up on different types of fraudulent activities,” he said. Retail Balancing security with improving the customer experience is a challenge for all industries, though reducing friction is even more vital for luxury merchants. “Luxury retailers typically operate in a ‘high-touch’ environment, designed to be as friction-free for the customer as possible,” said Shamoun Siddiqui, chief information security officer of Neiman Marcus, in an interview with PYMNTS. “Any measure of security introduces friction. So, the challenge is to make security as transparent as possible while still protecting the customer’s personal information.” The luxury retailer has been using device fingerprinting to identify devices based on unique configurations – and, ultimately, to determine whether it’s being used by a human or is automated. “We are investing heavily in fraud detection systems that [use] machine learning and artificial intelligence to differentiate between normal patterns of customer behavior and potentially fraudulent ones,” Siddiqui said of the retailer’s approach to identity theft and other types of fraud. “These are patterns that would not be visible to the naked eye.” Fraudsters are getting more sophisticated, making use of bots to mimic typical online shopping behavior. After Neiman Marcus identified a bot attack, the hackers started including mouse movements to fool detection systems. Gaming Due to in-game purchasing becoming more standard – a recent study found that approximately half of all personal computer (PC) and console gamers spend money in-game, a share that climbs to more than 75 percent for mobile gamers – gaming platforms have become an attractive target for fraud, especially for hackers who acquire personal data via account takeovers. Gaming and gambling sites face similar issues, as too many security measures can turn off users who will go elsewhere. Some sites are reluctant to implement overly stringent security measures. Beyond using machine learning to detect fraud before it happens, gaming platforms are also using liveness detection, which requires players to be physically present during the verification process so they can submit photos, video playback or audio recordings to confirm their identities. Fingerprints, voice prints and other forms of biometric authentication are gaining steam in the arsenal of fraud-fighting tools. More than 63 percent of all smartphones manufactured in 2017 incorporated some type of biometric authentication, and a growing share of devices are expected to offer these solutions as fraud increases.](https://securecdn.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/digital-fraud-ai-tools-80x80.jpg)
4.3KSecurity & FraudFraudsters Find New Bank Stomping Grounds
The good news in the world of fighting fraud and cybercrime is that, by the numbers, the battle against the thieves has...
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2.6KMobile Order AheadDeep Dive: How Fraudsters Swindle The Mobile Order-Ahead Industry
As is the case for all connected technologies, mobile order-ahead apps are constantly at risk for cyberattacks, which target credit card information...
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9.7KSecurity & FraudFaster Payments, Faster Fraudsters
The following Deep Dive takes an in-depth look at how real-time payments and P2P services are enabling faster transactions for users and...
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5.0KSecurity & FraudFiserv Rolls Out Enhanced Consumer Authentication Solutions
Fiserv, the global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced on Wednesday (Aug. 22) that it has rolled out two enhanced consumer authentication...
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7.8KSecurity & FraudAnatomy Of An ATO: How To Spot A Fraudster
With the advent of technology and the prevalence of online shopping, the term eCommerce fraud has become more general and more vague....
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9.5KSecurity & FraudJewelry Industry Vs. Fraudsters: A Diamond-Cut-Diamond Match
Jewelry and luxury watches remain some of the most attractive targets for fraudsters today — jewelry because it’s expensive and in-demand, and...
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6.7KSecurity & FraudThe Cyber Grinch Is Coming To Retailers
Fraudsters have been making their lists and checking them twice, and it’s not going to make for a very happy holiday for...
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The Life And Times Of A Most-Wanted Fraudster
Account takeover fraud, card-not-present (CNP) fraud, tax fraud, selling stolen financials, selling fake bank accounts, the Dark Web: If security experts are...
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6.3KFraud PreventionAccount Takeover: An Evolution In eCommerce Fraud
Place a stone in a stream and the water will flow on around it, diverted from its path but not from...
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8.6KSecurity & FraudFraudsters And The Retail Identity Crisis
Mastercard came out ahead of Wall Street’s forecasts when its Q3 earnings report hit the wires before the markets opened yesterday – notching a...
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6.4KSecurity & FraudHacker Tracker: DataVisor’s Global Insight Into Online Fraud
While the fraud ecosystem continues to rapidly develop and advance, big data may prove itself to be a strong weapon in combatting...
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3.9KRetailXOR Data Exchange Combats Fraud For Online Retailers
The need for online retailers and brands to be vigilant in the face of fraud becomes more pressing by the day —...
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4.4KSecurity & FraudSlack Security Flaw Could Have Exposed Users To Hacker Hijacking
Workplace communication and collaboration platform Slack disclosed earlier this week that a major security vulnerability within its system was patched. While it’s...
