In Q1 of 2020, the Arkose Labs network recorded that 26.5% of all transactions were fraud and abuse attempts, which is a 20% increase over the previous quarter. The Arkose Labs Q2 2020 Fraud and Abuse Report revealed that the US emerged as the top originator of cyberattacks, however, there was a sharp increase in attacks originating from other well-established economies, such as the UK, Germany, and Canada. The company also detected a sharp decline in human-driven attacks originating from low-cost ‘sweatshop’ resources, which is attributed to early lockdowns in traditional fraud hubs within Asia.

Moreover, with changes in consumer behaviour due to COVID-19 varying drastically across the industries, fraudsters are shifting their focus accordingly. Top targets for online fraud in the COVID-19 era include:

• Retail and travel: The attack rate has doubled from 13% of transactions to 26%, driven by attacks on ecommerce companies as travel tailed off due to restrictions;
• Gaming: With a 30% rise in gaming traffic, the industry was hard hit with a 23% increase in attack rates;
• Information technology: Attacks on tech platforms have risen 16%. Fraudsters looking to blend in with this traffic ramped up their attacks by 25% on new account registrations.