Banking fraud soars 159%

In the Financial Crime Report Q2 2021 Edition by Feedzai, it was discovered that between January-March 2021, 93% of banking fraud was committed online. However, whilst telephone banking made up less than 1% of transactions fraud attempts using this medium increased significantly 728% in Q1 2021.

Account takeover was the main tactic (42%) cyber criminals used to defraud banks and their customers, followed by new account fraud (23%), impersonation (21%), purchase scams (15%) and phishing. 

Card-not-present (CNP) attacks accounted for 83% of all fraud attempts despite it making up just 18% of card transactions. This could be due to the introduction of EMV cards which prevent in-person fraud using cloned cards.

Feedzai likened the increase in fraud to a broader surge in transaction volumes worldwide - especially in the US were stimulus funding has placed more money in consumers’ pockets.

“As vaccines become more widespread, we expect the behavioural changes taking place in the US today - namely more travel and a consumer base that more closely resembles a pre-pandemic world - to be mirrored in other countries,” the report said.

“But that also means the high levels of fraud will only continue to grow. Consumers aren’t the only ones betting on recovery. Fraudsters are too.”

Other findings include:

• Combining all banking - internet, telephone, and branch - fraud attacks soared 159% in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020.
• 93% of banking fraud attacks occur online.