Protecting consumers from fraud this summer vacation
It’s that time of year again – when people all over the U.S. take time away from life’s daily chores and embark upon that much-needed refresh: vacation! But just as fraud activity spikes during the holidays, evidence shows fraudster activity also surges during the summer, as the fraudster’s busy season is when we step away for some well-deserved rest and relaxation.
With consumers on vacation, identity theft becomes easier. We all know someone who has been the victim of identity theft, resulting in fraudulent purchases on their credit card, or their bank accounts being emptied. Consumers are most likely to break from their normal spending habits, and credit card’s fraud analytics teams struggle to differentiate these changes in spending behavior for a family on vacation from a fraudster who has compromised dad’s identity. To make matter seven more challenging, consumers are less likely to take measures that will help minimize fraud while they are out of town, making the fraudster’s job easier.
Identifying risky behaviors, or patterns outside of a consumer’s normal behavior when used in combination with a knowledge-based authentication session can help validate that the individual is indeed who they claim to be. A knowledge-based authentication solution with a wide variety of question types to complicate the fraudsters ability to pass should be part of a risk-based approach to on-going account management, especially when combined with a risk score and device intelligence.
Take measures to incorporate a knowledge-based authentication solution with a diverse range of question types to help protect your business and your customers from being burned while on vacation, at least by fraudsters. For more on travel spending behavior and projections for summer 2015, click here.
