Global Cybersecurity Fraud to Cost Merchants $343B Over 4-Year Span

Global merchant losses to online payment fraud will exceed $343 billion 2023-2027, reported Juniper Research Monday. The number includes sales of digital and physical goods, money transfer transactions, and banking and airline ticketing via fraudster attacks including phishing, business email compromise and socially engineered fraud, it said. A key driver is fraudster innovation such as account takeover fraud, where a user’s account is hijacked, despite identity verification measures, Juniper said. To combat rising fraud, fraud prevention vendors need to orchestrate the right mix of verification tools, at the most effective time. “No two online transactions are the same, so the way transactions are secured cannot follow a one-size-fits-all solution,” said analyst Nick Maynard. Fraud prevention requires several verification capabilities, intelligently orchestrated, to protect merchants and users, Maynard said. Physical goods purchases will be the largest source of losses, at an expected 49% of online payment fraud losses globally over the next five years, Juniper said. Lax address verification processes in developing markets are a major risk, with fraudsters targeting physical goods specifically, due to their resell potential, Juniper said.