Fraudsters seek new ways to exploit private information. Cybercrime and fraud prevention is an evolving field based on varied tactics used by fraudsters. In order to be prepared to mitigate fraud risks, you must understand the current fraud trends.

The initial segment of this series focused on fraud trends that have been identified for 2023 and beyond. Broadly, these trends include:

• Automation
• Account Takeover
• Adoption of new digital payment methods
• Balancing fraud and consumer friction
• Rise of synthetic identities
• Escalating cost of fraud
• Targeted attacks
• Strong need for real-time assessment
• Need for multi-layered fraud assessment
• Account security

In the initial segment we evaluated areas of automation and machine learning fraud. This session focuses on account takeover fraud and its various causes. Account takeover is a type of identity theft that occurs when a fraudster gains access to an individual’s or company’s computer accounts, email accounts, and other personal information. In a typical attack, hackers use phishing and malware methods to acquire legitimate user credentials or buy them from the dark web. They then use stolen credentials for account takeover.

Automated takeover attacks are carried out using stolen credentials, and organizations are particularly vulnerable to these attacks. A takeover can lead to a variety of crimes and direct financial losses, including:

• Bank account takeovers (Current accounts, credit cards)
• Money laundering
• Stealing loyalty or reward points
• Reselling subscription information