Special report: Fraud risk at a glance



2020 will go down in digital banking history as the year consumers got unwillingly consigned to their couches, forcing a surge in online activity. This report by NuData, a Mastercard company, reveals how online activity and fraud changed sharply in response.

NuData constantly monitors changes across their network to establish any patterns. This report includes data from the first six months of 2020 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers. Unsurprisingly, there was a 67% increase in e-commerce and digital goods traffic from 2019. Fraudsters responded accordingly.

Online fraud: A new threat landscape

• Sophisticated online fraud attacks that emulate human behavior are still on the rise.
• In fact, 96% of login attacks on financial institutions since the beginning of the year were sophisticated.
• E-commerce and digital goods traffic rose steeply, highlighting a shift in user activity as consumer needs changed.
• High-risk mobile traffic grew by 55% in the first half of 2020, indicating an increase in online fraud attacks from mobile devices.
• The creation of fake accounts for fraud schemes increased sharply compared to the same time last year.