The Paypers

Feedzai’s data from financial transactions across the world shows a stark difference in consumer behavior and financial crime in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as compared to Europe (EU) and North America (NA). A clear image appears – a hyper-digital world where east and west are in different recovery stages, reflecting different regional financial crime trends. Overall, 2020 allowed fraudsters to rejoice at the rapid shift to digital banking and commerce while consumers got swindled by purchase, impersonation, money mule schemes, and account takeover scams.

The report’s key takeaways are:

650% Increase in Account Takeover (ATO) Scams in Q
250% Increase in Online Banking in Attempted Fraud on Online Banking
178% Fraud Rate Increase for Digital Media
48% Drop in Card Present Fraud Attacks; Volume Only Drops 20%
Card not present Transactions Drive 70% of Fraud Attacks

Across the board, the pandemic was a boon for fraudsters and a burden for consumers. When it comes to transfers fraud, criminals were more drawn to the following five fraud schemes than to all others.

Impersonation Scams – 23%
Purchase Scams – 22%
Account Takeover Scams – 22%
Investment Scams – 6%
Romance Scams – 3%

AML alerts don’t necessarily mean a crime occurred. Financial Institutions (FIs) determine their risk thresholds and sets their alerts accordingly. However, several triggered AML alert types can indicate that money mules are funneling money obtained through illegal activities:

Rapid Movement of Funds
Transactions in Same or Similar Amounts
High-Risk Geography
Activity in Dormant Account
Transactions in Round Amounts

Fraud attacks skyrocketed in 2020, Feedzai report