Concerns Over Customer Friction, Increase in Mobile Fraud Underscored in Recent Report

A survey of business leaders released yesterday points to a dramatic increase in prevalence and occurrence of fraud on mobile and online channels. IDology’s Sixth Annual Fraud Report found that 63 percent of American businesses surveyed said they experienced an increase in fraud via mobile channels in 2018, a 117 percent increase over last year according to the report.

Fraud via online channels was also top of mind for surveyed businesses, with 67 percent reporting fraud increases on their websites. Overall, 58 percent of businesses sampled reported an increase in fraud attempts over the last twelve months; 30 percent reported no change, where 12 percent reported a decrease, the report said.

Among specific types of attacks, “phishing” unsurprisingly surged in prevalence and awareness, the report said. According to the report, 93 percent of data breaches in 2017 were a result of phishing attacks. Phishing prevalence for businesses surveyed increased 66 percent over last year.

Other types of fraud — like porting, spoofing, hacking and fraudulent change events — are similarly the rise, according to the study. Concerns about certain types of fraud, like Caller ID spoofing, porting and SMS interception increased 74 percent, 69 percent and 50 percent, respectively over last year.

Two in three surveyed businesses reported their biggest challenge as balancing fraud prevention with customer friction – a 65 percent increase over last year. And as mobile fraud prevalence and instance increased, 32 percent of businesses surveyed said they felt least prepared to detect and prevent mobile device attacks, up from only 12 percent last year.

The online survey sampled included 263 responses from leaders in the financial services, fintech, healthcare, insurance, ecommerce, age-restricted commerce and other verticals, the report said. Click here to read more and view the full report.