SEON, experts in fraud prevention, have published its 'Fraud Trends 2024' report, which presents compelling insights into the escalating challenges that businesses face in preventing, protecting, and mitigating the detrimental impacts of fraud.

The report comprises data derived from an extensive survey of 316 cross-industry experts, further supplemented with proprietary and independent fraud research. Consequently, it formulates a comprehensive understanding of the emerging complications, strategic emergent necessities, and crucial concerns for companies navigating in an environment increasingly threatened by fraud.

Tamas Kadar, CEO and co-founder at SEON exhibited urgency and called for immediate measures, saying, "The time for decisive action is now." He further emphasised that the business leaders and risk and fraud management teams must do everything they can to combat the increasingly complex emerging threats we see today due to advanced technologies like AI and machine learning.

According to the report, several worrying trends are predicted to amplify in the coming year. An overwhelming 87% of respondents anticipate an increased volume of fraud. The upsurge can be attributed to factors like artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, growing instances of Fraud-as-a-Service (FaaS), accelerated demand for swift transactions, and rising economic pressures.

This report indicates that AI plays a significant dual role in fraud dynamics, as it catalyses automated attacks and increasingly realistic deepfake technologies. As such, 71% of respondents have identified AI as the most significant challenge looming ahead for fraud prevention.

The report further highlights the anticipated proliferation of different types of fraud, including phishing, synthetic fraud, identity theft, account takeovers, and money laundering. A clear majority of respondents (73%) expect an uptick in these threats.

The increased awareness of the adverse business and customer impacts of fraud has led most businesses to allocate more funds to fight fraud next year. As per the study, 57% of fraud experts plan to enhance their investment in anti-fraud solutions in 2024. However, concerns persist about the cost and ease of fraud prevention solution integration.

With the rapidly evolving landscape of fraud, proactive prevention strategies at the earliest stage of the customer journey are becoming all the more critical. Technologies harnessing real-time data and AI are emerging as powerful tools to combat the rising fraud volumes. Yet, the challenges are substantial, and businesses must be ready to deal with a rough road ahead.