Fraudulent purchase attempts value increased 69% in 2020

2021-04-08 04:00

The average value of fraudulent purchase attempts increased 69% in 2020, a recent Sift report reveals.

Several business categories were hit by both major increases in attempted fraud rates and increases in the value of those fraudulent purchases, with lodging merchants, omnichannel retailers, digital wallets, and professional marketplace companies becoming targets for online theft amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A sophisticated fraud ring was also uncovered, dubbed Cart Crasher, that leveraged guest checkout options on donation sites to attempt to launder stolen payment information.

Fraudulent purchase attempts Taking their time: While fraudsters mainly focused on digital goods in 2020, the most expensive item they attempted to purchase on Sift's network was a $5 million watch.

Transportation took the brunt of the abuse in 2020 with an 8.4% overall attempted fraud rate, while crypto exchanges and gaming/gambling followed with fraud rates at 4.6% and 3.7% respectively.

"At the same time, cybercriminals were lying in wait, ready to take advantage of millions of vulnerable targets and enacting new methods to steal from them. As fraud fighters seek to stay ahead of the fraud economy, they must adopt a digital trust & safety strategy, which ensures they can both protect against abuse while reducing friction for legitimate purchases."

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