Payment threat actors are becoming more organized and sophisticated.
Visa has released its Fall 2024 Biannual Threats Report which provides an overview of the top threats to the payments ecosystem as identified by its payment fraud disruption team (Visa PFD). The report covers the six-month period January – June 2024.
Visa notes that threat actors are becoming more organized and sophisticated, using advanced tactics and cutting-edge technology to facilitate large-scale fraud operations. During the six-month period that is the focus of the study, Visa observed that threat actors were targeting system misconfigurations/vulnerabilities and cardholders, in particular.
During the January – June 2024 period, there was an increase in Purchase Return Authorization Attacks (PRA), with Visa PFD opening a record number of PRA investigations, 81% more than during the prior six-month period. Enumeration attacks continued to be a major threat, with the US being the most highly targeted region. Compared with the prior six-month period, ransomware and data breach attacks were down, and while the number of compromised websites was relatively consistent, skimming attacks remained an ongoing threat.
Visa observed that threat actors are increasingly turning their focus to cardholders and are using advanced social engineering techniques to facilitate scams. Visa PFD identified new scam tactics targeting retailers’ digital wallet programs, complex impersonation scams, and continued targeting of authentication data, such as onetime passcodes.
To read the full report, download Fall 2024 Visa Biannual Threats Report.
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