“What will COVID-19 do to my fraud attack landscape? What should I be doing to protect my business?”

I’ve been hearing a version of this question a lot lately. Many friends and former colleagues in the fraud prevention industry have been reaching out to me asking what to expect, from the fraud perspective, during the current coronavirus crisis.

If you’re wondering the same thing, you’re right to be preparing. Fraudsters are highly adaptable; they alter their tactics to suit the season, which items are particularly popular (and therefore easily resold), changing delivery urgency norms (for example, rushed shipping prior to a holiday season is normal) and so on.

It’s not pleasant to think about, but it’s almost inevitable that they’ll be trying to take advantage of a pandemic, its business implications, and the uncertainty and stress it causes.

So what’s a fraud prevention professional to do? I think there are some predictable trends that we’re about to see. I’ve organized my thoughts on this, which were published yesterday in Digital Commerce 360. You can see the full article here:

Preparing for the online fraud challenges of the coronavirus crisis — Digital Commerce 360

I know it all feels very high-pressure right now, but I’ve also tried to point out the areas where, by adapting to protect your business now, you’ll actually strengthen your entire system for the future as well. In a sense this is an investment as well as crisis management. I hope that thought helps a little.

There are some trends that will vary depending on the nature of your business — whether you’re in an industry which will be getting additional traffic at the moment, or an industry that will be experiencing a temporary lull. I’ve broken these down separately, for clarity, and also discussed the challenges that all fraud teams face at this difficult time, as well as some ways to ensure your company isn’t caught by surprise.

Check out the article here, on Digital Commerce 360.

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