New Visa Report Underscore Importance of Cybersecurity Amid Shifting Threats

Visa Inc., the world leader in digital payments, today shared an updated look at how fraud has evolved since the height of the pandemic, with criminals simultaneously targeting online and offline vulnerabilities as our daily lives return to a blend of in-person and e-commerce experiences.

“As in-person commerce returns to pre-pandemic levels, crooks are back to exploiting the physical points of vulnerability in stores, while continuing to capitalize on e-commerce through malware, ransomware and phishing attacks, among others,” said Paul D. Fabara, Chief Risk Officer at Visa. “In fact, we are continuing to see high rates of skimming, growing over the already elevated levels of the winter of 2021, where fraudsters are jumping on the rise of in-person activity.”

Two new pieces of research – the latest Visa Biannual Threats Report and an MIT Technology Review Insights study “Moving Money in a Digital World,” released in partnership with Visa – highlight new and returning threats to the post-pandemic economy.

“While fraud early on during the COVID-19 pandemic was concentrated on online scams, in-person attacks are now trending higher as criminals widen their scope to once again capture physical targets. The past year experienced an increase in card-present threats such as physical skimming on ATM and point-of-sale terminals – a trend that will likely persist. For instance, from June – November 2021, Visa saw a 176% increase in physical skimming devices over the previous 12-month period. Digital commerce, crypto users are rich targets for innovative fraudsters. Still, the digital commerce environment – vastly accelerated by the pandemic – remains the richest target for cybercriminals.

“Nearly three-fourths of fraud and data breach cases investigated by Visa’s Global Risk team involved e-commerce merchants – often social engineering and ransomware attacks. Digital skimming attacks targeting e-commerce platforms and third-party code integrations are common.”