As Visa Europe's interim Chief Risk Officer, I witness the almost-daily evolution of the payment threat landscape, and I’m proud to lead Visa’s continued fight against fraudsters.
Today, I get to share a milestone that reflects our unwavering commitment to consumer protection: the Visa Scam Disruption practice has identified over $1 billion in fraud attempts since its inception just a year ago – and over $260 million in Europe. As a result we’ve worked closely with our clients and law enforcement to dismantle more than 25,000 scam merchants.
And we’re not stopping there.
Alongside this milestone, we’ve strengthened one of our core ecosystem protection programs – the Visa Integrity Risk Program – to further support our bank clients in their detection of deceptive merchant practices. Combatting scams requires collaboration across the entire ecosystem and a 360 approach that places equal, if not greater, emphasis on prevention as on mitigation.
The Threat Landscape
Every day, scammers are more sophisticated and scalable due to the proliferation of AI. Visa Scam Disruption is staying ahead by using AI for good – coupled with deep human expertise – to identify complex, malicious scams and stop them before they impact potential victims.
Here is a recent example of a particularly nefarious scam that consumers faced, which has now been dismantled:
Scam Merchant Takedown: In Europe, the Scam Disruption team has been working to take down a large network of thousands of scam merchants operating in the EU and North America. Over 1,000 merchants were targeting cardholders through a variety of methods, from posting fake QR codes, social engineering, or serving consumers misleading pop-up ads to trick them into entering their payment details. The network was responsible for over $44 million in reported fraud – but, after working with law enforcement teams and acquirers, we have successfully taken down the entire network.
Looking Ahead
Scams are personal, and one misstep can have detrimental financial impact on individuals and families. Identifying more than $1 billion in fraud attempts is significant, but it’s just the beginning. Our team wakes up every day thinking about the people being targeted – the ones looking for love, or booking a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, or finally starting a new business.
Visa will continue to make investments in technology, our bench of experts, and our global network that allow us to identify scams early – regardless of where they originate, or who they are targeting – and work closely with our partners and clients to take swift action to stop them.
For more information on Visa’s unique ability to identify and disrupt fraud across the globe, click here.