A recent survey carried out by Javelin Strategy & Research team showcased that over 16.7 million U.S. consumers are found to be victims for identity fraud. Compared to earlier years, the statistics have increased by eight percent. Despite the efforts by industries to minimize and remove the identity fraud, fraudsters have wholly taken over online tools and successfully hacked around 1.3 million victims’ data in 2017. Furthermore, with the increase in online financial transaction and development in mobile applications for processing their monetary needs, the complexity of fraudsters is also increased along with a rise in their criminal activities.

The card accounts remain as the most prevalent target for the hackers since users are allowed to retrieve the amount as per their requirements. Also, this process is easy-to-hack with the same credentials such as PayPal and E-commerce merchants, leaving traits of data breaches to fraudsters. These account transactions have facilitated fraudsters to transfer the funds from the victims’ account directly to their existing account.

Al Pascual, Senior vice president, head of fraud and security of Javelin Strategy & Research stated that the year 2017 is a runway for numerous fraudsters. The availability of consumer financial credentials and valid data has allowed fraudsters to attack a consumer’s account easily. Also, the prediction has showcased that one-third of the U.S. consumer is affected by fraud cases. Fortunately, with advancements in technologies, numerous companies have come up with a variety of efficient tools to determine the fraud and keep them safe from fraud identities.

The study carried out by Javelin Strategy & Research on predicting the causes and critical factors have come-up with certain critical points during their survey. The main consequence is found to be increased in credit card usage and online resources for financial transactions. Account takeover is seen to be a challenging issue in fraud types. Almost all the candidates are choosing an online transaction since it is more comfortable and less time to consume compared to the victims paying through out-of-pocket costs. Also, fraudsters getting more sophisticated with their hacking strategies are moving toward complex and well-versed techniques to explore, analyze, and transfer the financial assets of consumers at a faster rate.

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Furthermore, with more-and-more companies moving online for their financial assets, there are chances that online fraud losses can hit nearly $50 billion by 2023. To prevent this, companies and fintech organizations should innovate high-end authentication tools, or two-factor authentication to protect customers’ as well as companies’ financial transactions.