Visa Urges Consumers to Stay Alert This Holiday Shopping Season
In the Holiday Edition Threats Report, Visa anticipates threat actors will use advanced schemes to exploit consumers’ information during the holiday season and shares tips and tricks for safe transactions.
Visa Inc., a world leader in digital payments, revealed its Holiday Edition Threats Report, which anticipates heightened scam activity during the holiday season across both card-present (CP) and card-not-present (CNP) transactions. The new report identifies popular fraud tactics expected between November 2023 and January 2024 due to the rapid increase in eCommerce activities and in-person spending across retail and hospitality. Visa, today, also unveiled its list of top 10 habits consumers can follow to practice safe and secure shopping.
Historical data and transactions show that threat actors prey on consumers during the holiday season. In fact, Visa’s data shows that for the top merchant categories targeted by fraudsters, 2022 holiday fraud rates increased 11% over their non-holiday fraud rate and saw an increase of 8% over the previous year during this time. The Holiday Edition Threats Report warns that threat actors will seek to exploit consumers’ increased interest and urgency in finding deals and one-of-a-kind gifts. Highlights of the report’s findings include:
Phishing and Social Engineering: The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past year provides threat actors with the ability to create highly customized phishing campaigns, making it harder for consumers to spot fakes. Fraudsters also create phishing websites, often using malvertising (malicious advertising) and other illicit search engine optimization (SEO) tactics on retail or service websites to entice victims.
OTP Bypass and Provisioning Fraud: Visa identified many one-time-passcode (OTP) bypass schemes to gain access to cardholders’ accounts. In this scheme, OTP templates are sent to the consumers that appear to be associated with desired purchase.
Physical Theft: Threat actors may attempt to physically steal payment cards and/or phones from unsuspecting consumers in crowded retail stores, shopping malls, or parking lots.
“Crooks prepare all year for the holiday shopping season, taking advantage of increased activity and consumers who let their guard down searching for the perfect gift,” said Paul Fabara, Chief Risk Officer, Visa. “At Visa, we are committed to security and reliability, with a promise of 24/7 threat monitoring, even during the busiest time of the year. Consumers can rest easy this holiday season knowing Visa’s team of experts is working around the clock to stop fraud in its tracks.”
At Visa, security and reliability is a top priority year-round. Over the past five years, the company has invested more than $10 billion in technology, including reducing fraud and increasing network security. More than a thousand dedicated specialists protect Visa’s network from malware, zero-day attacks and insider threats 24x7x365. In fact, in the first six months of 2023, Visa helped to proactively block $30 billion in fraud, preventing many from ever knowing they were at risk of a potential fraudulent transaction. We encourage consumers to stay alert during this season and think about where they are shopping and who they are sharing their information with to keep it safe.
