New Tech

We live in an era of cybercrime where it is not uncommon to read headlines of data breaches and other cases of persistent fraud attempts. According to the 2019 sixth annual Fraud Attack Index by Forter Inc, fraud levels went up in 2018 in every online merchant category they scrutinized.

The weight of the matter

Forter reported increased fraud levels in 2018 in all the online merchant categories it tracked. The findings were as follows.

•    Food-and-beverage merchants 79%

•    Electronics at 73%;

•    Digital goods, 66%;

•    Apparel and accessories, 47%;

•    Jewelry, 19%;

•    Luxury, 19%;

•    Travel, 19%;

According to Michael Reitbalt, Founder and CEO of Forter, though some thought luxury or electronic merchants were more vulnerable to fraud due to the larger return from a single fraudulent transaction, the food-and-beverage sector has turned out to be the best testing zone for tricksters to see if they can purchase goods with stolen IDs. Once successful purchase means the trick is worth trying for a top dollar order elsewhere.”

In fact, the CEO suspects that some cybercriminals are hoarding stolen customer information for later breaches or sale in black markets.

“What’s more, web-based food and beverage retailers are slow to the game of online transactions compared to other merchants in other sectors, and as a result, haven’t built up dependable fraud defenses making them the criminals favorite,” Reitblat says.

How is your business most likely to get attacked?

The study also focused on the methods criminals used and …

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