GIACT: It’s Time To Fight Back Against Fraud

Melissa Townsley-Solis, head of GIACT, discusses one of the negative effects of COVID-19: the escalation of fraud in the payments arena. In “A Look Forward: What Executives Wish for America and the World in 2021.” She stresses the importance of small businesses fighting back against fraud in 2021 in order to achieve economic recovery.

Fraud was red-hot in 2020. Its impact was felt by consumers and businesses alike, compounding an already precarious financial outlook. Fraudsters targeted consumers when they were most vulnerable — as they struggled to keep their jobs and families healthy. According to the FTC, Americans issued over 200,000 complaints and lost more than $145 million in COVID-related scams alone.

Businesses also increasingly found themselves the target of highly sophisticated fraud schemes. Particularly stunning this year was the volume of business email compromise (BEC) attacks, which, according to the FBI, is already a $2 billion-a-year business. Well-funded and organized fraud operations, meanwhile, continued to amass more capital, manpower and technology. It’s time to fight back. Businesses across the U.S. have already begun to pick up the mantle, recognizing the severe financial damage that can result from fraud.

What’s more, businesses have also begun to experience whiplash for not prioritizing the security of their customers. For example, we sponsored a study, developed by Javelin Strategy & Research, that found that “over 60 percent of fraud is self-identified by consumers using various monitoring techniques.” That’s a recipe for negative reviews and frustrated feedback on social media. For the benefit of these businesses, my hope is that they recognize that they can no longer afford to continue operating at the status quo. Even as we exit the nightmare of COVID and look forward to brighter days ahead, it’s more important than ever for businesses to take a comprehensive approach to their fraud prevention strategies.

My hope is that small businesses, which make up the backbone of our economy, hear this message as well. And that they fight back, too. It’s important for everyone that Main Street gets back on its feet. The approach to fraud in 2021 should be one that looks at holistic solutions and considers every step of the customer lifecycle. Too often, businesses put up a patchwork of solutions, adding them piecemeal as issues arise, like plugging leaks in a boat in the middle of the ocean. Fraudsters are sure to take advantage of that mindset, scoring big as they find vulnerabilities and leaving businesses to founder. 2020 was a tough enough year already. As a nation, we experienced loss and hardship. Good people lost their jobs. Contracts with vendors ran dry. It should be a reminder to take nothing for granted.

Here at GIACT, we plan to continue doing what we’ve been doing every day for the past 16 years: to innovate, to fight and to stay a step ahead of fraud. 2021 will be a particularly strong year as we look to integrate new data assets, product sets and areas of expertise from our position as a Refinitiv company. We know that in the year ahead, fraud networks will not give up the fight. And neither will we.