Fraud & Security

Last week’s disclosure that hackers had accessed up to 143 million credit records at Equifax Inc. has stirred fears of a tsunami of fraud in coming months. But physical and online merchants are already struggling not only with a huge threat of fraud, but with a stunning fraud cost that …

In the hours after credit-reporting giant Equifax Inc. disclosed a massive data breach, consumers and businesses were left scrambling Friday to piece together the implications. But a range of consequences could affect Equifax itself as the Atlanta-based company struggles to recover from an epic hack that affected potentially 143 million …

The Federal Reserve issued a report on Wednesday that indicates the nation’s central bank could play a much more active role in faster payments than many have expected, up to and including providing alternative processing services. Up to now, the Fed has limited its role to sponsoring working groups that …

The financial-services industry can take some satisfaction that it has improved its overall compliance with the PCI data-security standard, going from 42.9% of firms in full compliance in 2015 to 59.1% in 2016, as measured in the 2017 Payment Security Report from Verizon Enterprise, the business-services unit of telecommunications carrier …

With transaction laundering and false-front Web sites a growing problem for acquirers and independent sales organizations, technology vendors are beginning to respond. The latest example is Reno, Nev.-based Conformance Technologies LLC, which this week introduced more powerful tools to combat this growing fraud threat. Conformance has broadened the data elements …

ThreatMetrix Inc., a provider of digital-identity and authentication services, reports that its network detected and stopped 144 million cyberattacks in the second quarter, a 100% increase from 2015’s second quarter. ThreatMetrix says its Digital Identity Network from April through June also stopped 300 million bot attacks in which hackers take …

Fraudsters are hitting fuel pumps hard as they hunt for the dwindling number of places where they can take advantage of magnetic-stripe payments while EMV chip card acceptance takes hold in U.S. stores and restaurants. Last week, fleet-fueling payment card specialist WEX Inc. revealed that it increased its second-quarter provision …

With a rapidly expanding e-commerce market, online fraud-detection and -prevention efforts are poised to grow over the next few years. Merchants are expected to spend $9.3 billion annually on these efforts by 2022, says Juniper Research. That’s a 22% increase from the 2017 spending total, though it pales in comparison …

As the nation’s automated clearing house network gears up to introduce same-day debits in September, observers are warning that faster processing is likely to open the door to more fraud unless businesses and financial institutions adopt new policies. Some caution the ACH network’s experience so far with same-day credits, which …

What’s the future of electronic payments? For many consumers, it’s one that incorporates biometrics for authentication and payments, finds a survey from Viewpost IP Holdings LLC, a business-to-business payments provider. In the survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, Viewpost found that 50% believe fingerprint technology—already in use with many …