Mobile-wallet usage is expected to increase in 2019 as almost 2.1 billion consumers worldwide choose the payment option, predicts Juniper Research Ltd. In its “Mobile Wallets: Service Provider Analysis, Market Opportunities & Forecasts 2018-2022” report released Wednesday, United Kingdom-based Juniper notes that next year’s forecasted number of mobile-wallet users is …

Fraudulent online sales of cars, recreational vehicles, boats, and outdoor equipment are soaring, with the scams typically funded through the victims’ gift cards, according to recent FBI data. A public-service announcement the FBI posted last week on its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Web site says the site received 26,967 complaints …

Fraudsters have caused 1,202 data breaches this year as of Nov. 29, up nearly 18% from the same period a year earlier, and they’ve exposed 172.4 million records, according to the latest figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center. Some 156.4 million Social Security numbers were compromised in the breaches, …

The underground market for personally identifiable information is flourishing, with criminals paying as little as 20 cents to as much as $15 for verified credentials across the dark market. That’s the latest from RSA Security LLC, a data-security company. The Bedford, Mass.-based firm released the 2018 Cybercriminal Shopping List Tuesday, …

The Western Union Co. will pay $586 million to the federal government to reimburse consumers victimized by fraud as a result of the company’s allegedly lax supervision of agents and anti-fraud and money-laundering controls. The settlements announced Thursday are a result of investigations that covered payments involving the smuggling of …

Acquirers are starting to leverage the power of massive—and diverse—pools of information. The challenge lies in unlocking big data’s full potential. Big data has been a hot topic for years as companies look for innovative ways to become more competitive, boost customer retention, and raise their bottom line. Now merchant …

A well-crafted email message from an executive can cause employees to take swift action. That’s just what criminals hope for when they send phishing messages that purport to be from senior executives to more junior ones, says Scott Montgomery, vice president and chief technical strategist at Intel Security, the data-protection …

With financial institutions, merchants, and software application developers all looking for better online security than that afforded by the traditional, static user name and password, the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance’s brand of authentication products is starting to get traction. The Mountain View, Calif.-based industry consortium reported Monday that 150 …

Linda Punch The Federal Trade Commission wants to outright ban four payment methods used by legitimate telemarketers and fraudsters alike. That would shut off a significant source of transactions for at least some merchant processors. Alternative payment methods such as remotely created checks have become increasingly popular over the past …

The complexity of federal and state regulation has some operators thinking twice, including Facebook and Microsoft, both of which ditched their currencies. By Linda Punch When federal prosecutors in May shut down digital-currency network Liberty Reserve on money-laundering charges, all eyes turned to other peer-to-peer digital currencies, such as Bitcoin …