by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – VISA anticipates heightened scam activity during the holiday season across card-present and card-not-present transactions.
Its Holiday Edition Threats Report identifies popular fraud tactics expected up to January due to the rapid increase in e-commerce activities and in-person spending across retail and hospitality.
Visa’s data shows that for the top merchant categories targeted by fraudsters, 2022 holiday fraud rates increased 11 percent over their non-holiday fraud rate and saw an increase of 8 percent 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.
Threats include phishing and social engineering, one time password (0TP) bypass and provisioning fraud as well as physical theft.
“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.
Consumers are advised to shop from reputable retailers, secure their personal information, always check details in the OTP message, avoid public Wi-Fi for shopping and be wary of deals that are too good to be true.
– CAJ News