Online payment fraud set to grow over the next four years
Fraud is nothing new on the internet. From phishing scams to ransomware, we've seen it all. However, the fastest growing part of this dark market seems to be online retail payment fraud. There's a lot of money to be made in this segment of the economy.
According to a new report, online retail fraud accounted for a whopping $10.7 billion in 2015, but, even worse, it's an up and coming thing. Juniper Research claims it could grow as high as $25.6 billion by the year 2020.
The reason behind this growth is the implementation of CHIP and PIN at outlets, which drives thieves to look for other methods of stealing money.
The report claims "the greater security afforded by CHIP and PIN would persuade fraudsters to switch their attention from the in-store environment to the CNP (Card Not Present) space".
The study identifies three key areas where the biggest growth is expected to take place -- eRetail (65 percent of fraud by value in 2020 -- $16.6 billion), banking (27 percent for $6.9 billion) and airline ticketing (six percent for $1.5 billion).
The report concludes that "although banks are able to counter online banking fraud by deploying new technologies such as 3D-Secure and device fingerprinting, these measures often only provide temporary respite as fraudsters quickly find new ways to defraud".
It's really not a surprise that this will grow. Other areas seem likely to as well, especially given the almost daily reports of ransomware. It's truly a jungle out there.
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