That CNP fraud is growing is doubtless. Why it’s happening is a bit less certain to identify. The transition in the U.S. to EMV-compliant systems at the physical point of sale was expected to cause an increase in card-not-present fraud, which experts presume criminals will turn to (like they did in other countries that implemented EMV) as counterfeit card fraud becomes more difficult.
But, some industry experts say surging CNP fraud is simply a function of the growth in CNP transactions. Two recent announcements illustrate the divide.
Antifraud technology provider ThreatMetrix, which tracks cybercrime quarterly, said in its Q1 2017 report released Thursday that growth in card-not-present fraud attacks in the first quarter of this year was 50 percent higher than growth in e-commerce transactions. That suggests that factors in addition to more people buying things on their phones and laptops are at play. The ThreatMetrix report (download here) also noted the increasingly international nature of fraud attacks (50 percent more attacks originating from Europe than from North America), how mobility is affecting fraud and that new account origination continues to rise significantly.
The U.S. Payments Forum disagrees. The industry group focused on contactless cards and EMV points to a 2017 report from Aite Group that said growth in CNP fraud was flat compared to transaction growth…
