Spike in brand abuse attacks, 3-D Secure transaction volume rising

Outseer has published its latest quarterly Fraud & Payments report, confirming a troubling and massive spike in worldwide brand abuse attacks. The Q4 installment of the report features insights from July through September of 2021 as captured and collected while authenticating consumer transactions and investigating threats.

According to the report, brand abuse attacks have continued to dominate fraud actor tactics, growing 274% in Q3 2021 annually and comprising 45% of all attacks detected and investigated. Organizations are strongly advised to employ monitoring services that rapidly detect, investigate, and take down these scams that impersonate authentic brand websites, mobile apps, and social media profiles.

As card-not-present (CNP) digital payments registered explosive growth throughout 2021, 3-D Secure transaction volume also scaled across every region. In the first three quarters of 2021, 3-D Secure transactions grew nearly 50% compared to the same time period in 2020.

According to a recently published study by Aite-Novarica group, 69% of the 756 merchants surveyed claimed they are currently using 3-D Secure as a payment authentication method, with the majority attributing their usage of 3-D Secure “to lower fraud losses” and “increased authorization approval rates.”

“As consumer buying behavior has shifted to a digital-first experience throughout this seemingly endless pandemic, newer payment models and transaction methods continue to proliferate,” said Armen Najarian, CMO and Chief Identity Officer at Outseer.

“It should come as no surprise that payment transaction fraud has skyrocketed to new heights. This is particularly evident in regions where 3-D Secure as the go-to payment authentication method has not been widely adopted yet. This report validates that every digital business must prioritize strong and effective fraud prevention measures like 3-D Secure in order to protect their brand and their customers.”

Other notable insights:

• More than 56,000 global cyber attacks during the quarter.
• 68% of digital banking fraudulent transactions originated on mobile.
• Rogue Mobile Apps showed a 50% quarterly increase vs. Q2 2021.
• The United States has remained the top hosting country for phishing attacks in Q3 2021, accounting for 73% of ISPs hosting these types of attacks.
• India remains in second place, responsible for 6% of phishing attacks.
• Russian hosted phishing attacks jumped 42% from Q2 2021.
• In the first three quarters of 2021 alone, over 12.9 million unique compromised cards and card previews were recovered from online stores and fraud communication channels. On average, more than 48,000 cards were recovered daily in 2021.