Defending Payments in an AI Fraud Era
Key Takeaways:
Payment fraud is accelerating and evolving. Losses are projected to reach $91 billion in 2028, and nearly 80% of organizations reported attacks or attempts in 2024. Fraud is no longer occasional; it's global, complex and relentless.
AI is a double-edged sword. Businesses use AI to fight fraud, but bad actors also leverage AI to automate fraud, create synthetic identities and launch sophisticated phishing campaigns that evade traditional detection.
Modern fraud protection requires agility and intelligence. Businesses need solutions that deploy quickly, adapt to unique transaction patterns and provide full visibility with customizable controls—backed by expert support to stay ahead of evolving threats.
The payments industry is under siege. Fraud is no longer an occasional nuisance. It’s accelerating at unprecedented speeds, becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect. For businesses that accept online payments, it often feels like playing a relentless game of whack-a-mole. As soon they address one threat, another emerges.
The cost of payment fraud is growing
Scams, account takeovers and fake identities drive most payment fraud schemes. Recent industry research underscores the scale of the problem:
$362 billion : Projected global losses from online payment fraud between 2023–2028, with $91 billion expected in 2028 alone.
79% of organizations reported being victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts in 2024.
$534 billion : Average amount forfeited in 2024 among business leaders surveyed. This is equal to 7.7% of annual revenue.
The bottom line: Fraud is not just costly, it is evolving, complex and global in scope.
Even fraudsters are using AI
Businesses are increasingly seeking partners who are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in their fraud protection tools.
Unfortunately, bad actors are also tapping AI to steal billions of dollars. Fraudsters employ machine learning algorithms to identify patterns in transaction data, initiate account takeovers and automate fraud schemes. They can also generate synthetic identities that are difficult to detect, even with newer fraud protection tools.
AI tools also enable fraudsters to launch sophisticated phishing campaigns that optimize the timing and volume of fraudulent transactions. These tools even evade traditional rule-based detection systems that cannot effectively respond to novel attack patterns. This means that fraud is no longer just opportunistic; it's intelligent. That's why having proper for businesses. Fraudsters are calculated and adaptive, and they are scaling at the same speed as legitimate digital payments.