Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. Flowers, candy, cards and dinner are some of the classic ways we show our love on this day. But as an increasing number of people look for love online, it’s a good time for a reminder that more people lose more money in online romance scams than in any other fraud category. According to the FBI, over the past five years $1.3 billion in losses have been reported, with annual losses skyrocketing since the pandemic.

Payment fraud was at an all-time high ‍in 2022, as hackers and scammers took advantage of increasingly sophisticated techniques to access and exploit payment networks. Let’s look at some of the lessons to be learned from the global payment fraud trends of 2022.

UK banking group TSB is calling on social networks and dating apps to better protect their users from fake profiles, following an alarming spike in romance fraud. Examining data from December 2020 - January 2022, TSB determined that romance fraud almost doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a record increase in losses of 91% - averaging £6,100 per incident.

With so many companies currently reducing their workforce, jobs scams have become a serious and widespread problem for those who are looking for work. Stories from people who came across these scams on LinkedIn talk about scammers asking for their IDs, possibly to commit identity fraud or theft.

Bank fraud is a type of financial crime that involves the use of false representations and illegal activities to obtain money or other assets from a financial institution. It can involve forging signatures, using stolen bank account numbers, or using fake documents to gain access to funds.

Telephony fraud is a significant challenge. Companies of all sizes and industries are subjected to the malicious usage of voice and SMS with the intent of committing financial fraud, identity theft, denial-of-service, and a variety of other attacks. Businesses that fall victim to fraud can incur significant financial losses, irreparable damage to their reputation, and legal implications.

It’s seldom easy to predict what a hacker will do exactly. Cybercriminals frequently act out of impulse and chance rather than following a rational course. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) believes it has a preview of what lies ahead in 2023 after studying patterns in the second half of 2022. Takeovers of social media using identity theft, either assuming fake profiles or claiming an original profile was popular in 2022.