Note from the Publisher: When we saw the stat in our headline, we about fell off our chair. Even with the new EMV (chip card) technology that is supposed to help protect against it, the amount of online fraud continued to soar and that's because the cyber-criminals simply go the path of least resistance, such as finding passwords or going to networks that still use card swiping vs. chips (EMVs). So, keep an eye on your statements folks and take this into consideration when investing in retail stocks for your client portfolios. The payments industry still has a way to go to protect their clients and the public.
"Upward and onward seems like a hopeful phrase, doesn’t it? Unless it’s fraud you are talking about.
At the end of 2014, the average U.S. household held five mobile devices, while, at the start of 2016, that number has increased to about 13. Tech is a wonderful thing, when used for the forces of good and for quality of life. But alongside that iPad your 10-year-old daughter needed, the rate of online fraud attacks on retailers has doubled, up 137 percent year over year in the first quarter of this year.
In a webinar delving into the whys and the whats behind that meaningful acceleration, Michael Reitblat, CEO of Forter, spoke with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in a deep dive into the PYMNTS/Forter Global Fraud Attack Index. The data is sobering.
First, the biggest headline stats. There were 34 fraud attacks for every 1,000 transactions in the first quarter of 2016, compared to a level of 15 attacks almost a year ago in the second quarter of 2015. In addition, according to the index, the attack rates are growing across sequential quarters, up 27 percent between the first quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of last year, said Reitblat."
Read Full Article at Pymnts.com