COSTA
MESA,
Calif.—
With
fraud
expected
to
surge
amid
uncertain
economic
conditions,
Experian®today
released
its
2023
Future
of
Fraud
Forecast,
which
reveals
five
fraud
threats
that
could
prove
challenging
for
consumers
and
businesses
in
the
new
year.
This
year’s
annual
predictions
show
that
fraudsters
will
use
some
new
deception
techniques
to
outsmart
businesses
and
deceive
consumers.
According
to
PwC’s
Global
Economic
Crime
and
Fraud
Survey,
52%
of
companies
with
global
annual
revenues
over
$10
billion
experienced
fraud
during
the
past
24
months
and
nearly
1
in
5
reported
that
their
most
disruptive
incident
had
a
financial
impact
of
more
than
$50
million.
To
help
businesses
and
consumers
prepare
for
fraudulent
activity
in
2023,
Experian’s
top
fraud
predictions
include:
-
Fake
texts
from
the
boss:
Given
the
prevalence
of
remote
work,
Experian
predicts
there’ll
be
a
sharp
rise
in
employer
text
fraud.
This
occurs
when
the
“boss”
texts
the
employee
to
buy
gift
cards
using
a
bogus
reason,
and
then
asks
the
employee
to
email
the
gift
card
numbers
and
codes.
Fraudsters
then
use
the
gift
cards,
leaving
the
employee
and/or
the
company
with
the
expense. -
Beware
of
fake
job
postings
and
mule
schemes:
Amid
uncertain
economic
conditions,
Experian
predicts
fraudsters
will
create
fake
remote
job
postings,
specifically
designed
to
lure
consumers
into
applying
for
the
job
and
providing
private
details
like
a
social
security
number
and
date
of
birth
on
a
fake
employment
application.
The
job
never
materializes,
and
the
fraudstersuse
the
information
provided
to
commit
identity
theft.
Experian
also
predicts
that
consumers
could
fall
prey
to
mule
recruiting
schemes.
This
happens
when
people
sign
up
for
work
from
home
jobs
and
unintentionally
act
as
a
re-shipper
of
stolen
goods
or
help
move
money
through
their
personal
bank
accounts
on
behalf
of
fraudsters. -
Frankenstein
shoppers
spell
trouble
for
retailers:
Synthetic
identity
fraud
is
the
fastest
growing
financial
crime
in
the
United
States,
according
to
The
Federal
Reserve.
This
type
of
fraud
involves
a
fraudster
creating
a
synthetic
or
“Frankenstein”
identity
by
combining
real
and
false
information
and
opening
and
building
up
lines
of
credit,
eventually
maxing
out
their
credit
limit
and
never
paying
it
back.
Experian
predicts
a
new
version
of
this
fraud
could
result
in
major
losses
for
retailers
in
the
coming
year.
Fraudsters
can
create
online
shopper
profiles
using
synthetic
identities
so
that
the
fake
shopper’s
legitimacy
is
created
to
outsmart
retailers’
fraud
controls.
As
the
shopper’s
profile
matures,
criminals
add
stolen
payment
cards
to
the
accounts.
When
the
fraud
eventually
occurs,
a
single
synthetic
identity
will
have
multiple
credit
lines
to
burn
through
across
retailers. -
Social
media
shopping
fraud:
Experian
predicts
in-app
social
commerce
fraud
could
result
in
millions
of
dollars
in
losses.
These
apps
are
designed
to
make
shopping
easy,
intuitive
and
compelling
for
consumers
to
make
purchases
without
leaving
the
app.
This
means
legitimate
brands
are
racing
to
make
social
commerce
a
part
of
their
sales
strategy.
However,
social
commerce
currently
has
very
few
identity
verification
and
fraud
detection
controls
in
place,
making
the
retailers
that
sell
on
these
platforms
easy
targets
for
a
surge
in
fraudulent
purchases. -
Peer-to-peer
payment
problems:
Consumers
love
the
convenience
of
peer-to-peer
payments
and
usage
continues
to
grow.
Fraudsters
also
love
peer-to-peer
payment
methods
because
they’re
an
instantaneous
and
irreversible
way
to
move
money,
enabling
fraudsters
to
get
cash
with
less
work
and
more
profit.
Experian
predicts
fraudsters
will
gain
even
more
unauthorized
access
to
peer-to-peer
payments
by
using
multiple
social
engineering
techniques.
Consumers
will
be
duped
into
buying
fake
items,
sending
the
money
to
fraudsters
and
then
never
receiving
their
orders.
They’ll
also
be
tricked
into
giving
their
account
credentials,
enabling
fraudsters
to
send
cash
to
themselves.
“As
fraudsters
become
more
sophisticated
and
opportunistic,
businesses
need
to
proactively
integrate
the
latest
technology,
data
and
advanced
analytics
to
mitigate
the
growing
fraud
risk,”
said
Kathleen
Peters,
chief
innovation
officer
at
Experian
Decision
Analytics
in
North
America.
“Experian
is
committed
to
continually
innovating
and
bringing
solutions
to
market
that
help
protect
consumers
and
enable
businesses
to
detect
and
prevent
current
and
future
fraud.”
Experian’s
suite
of
fraud
prevention
and
identity
verification
tools
can
help
businesses
detect
and
combat
fraud.
Experian
estimates
that
its
fraud
prevention
solutions
helped
clients
save
$11
billion
in
fraud
losses
globally
last
year.To
learn
more
about
Experian’s
fraud
prevention
solutions,
please
visit
https://www.experian.com/business/solutions/fraud-management.
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