Fraud and cybercrime – increasingly borderless on a global scale

fraud and cybercrime

New report findings crystalize how fraud and cybercrime have become increasingly borderless on a global scale. The Cybercrime Report covering July 2019 through December 2019. has been released by LexisNexis® Risk Solutions.

The report analysis shows, cybercrime is a well-organized, global endeavor powered by networks of fraud. While consumers enjoy access to goods and services from all over the world, fraudsters are able to harness stolen identity data to launch corresponding cross-border fraud attacks.

This global, networked pattern of cybercrime is further reflected in mobile attack rate growth, which is heavily influenced by a global bot attack targeting mobile app registrations. Fraudsters are migrating attacks to exploit the mobile channel: Of the 19 billion transactions recorded by the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network® in this six month period, for the first time, mobile attacks outpaced desktop attacks, with a 56% growth in the mobile attack rate year-over-year.

Key Findings from the report:

Global Networked Fraud – The threat of networked cybercrime grows daily. Fraudsters are working in hyperconnected, global networks, targeting businesses across country borders and industries. In just one month, 73,000 devices associated with a fraudulent event at one organization were later recorded at another organization within the Digital Identity Network®.

All of the fraud networks identified in the recorded period involved organizations from more than one region and more than one industry. This confirms the global nature of networked fraud and illustrates how cybercriminals launder the proceeds of their crimes throughout the digital economy for maximum financial gain.

Globally Connected Bot Attacks Target New Account Creations

  • Over the period examined, bot volumes saw strong growth from key regions, as fraudsters use automation to maximize success. Bot volumes can be very volatile given that one bot attack can represent millions of individual attacks. Analyzing regional growth provides an alternative view of attack growth targeting specific industries and regions.
  • The Digital Identity Network recorded strong growth in bot attacks from Canada, Germany, France, India and Brazil. Furthering the notion of fraud without borders, bots from Canada, France and Germany all targeted the same group of organizations, which were mainly in financial services and media.

Growing Mobile Attack Rate

  • While attack rates targeting desktop transactions (2.7%) and mobile transactions (2.5%) are almost identical, the mobile attack rate grew 56% while the desktop attack rate fell 23%, confirming the growing shift toward mobile fraud.
  • Within the mobile space, there are also nuanced differences between browser and app attacks. Mobile browser transactions are attacked at a higher rate – 4.2% compared with 1.9% for apps – but mobile app transactions realized a greater growth in attack rate, up 171% compared with a steadier growth rate of 14% for browsers.

Sharing information about known fraudsters across industries and geographies is more important than ever. Businesses can combat networked fraud by utilizing solutions like networks and consortia to share intelligence related to cybercrime.

Download a copy of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report, July through December 2019 here.

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