Fraud has evolved into a professionally organized industry. With the help of bot networks and artificial intelligence, criminals today operate faster, with greater precision, and on a larger scale than ever before.
Stolen identities, compromised customer accounts, and automated attacks have long since ceased to cause only financial damage. They result in high audit costs, negatively impact conversion rates, and can permanently erode customer trust.
The key question today is no longer whether fraud occurs, but rather how early risks can be identified before any damage occurs.
New fraud patterns are emerging at an ever-faster pace. Attacks are becoming more automated, identities are increasingly generated artificially, and existing customer accounts are being specifically targeted for takeover.
At the same time, expectations for fast, simple, and secure digital processes are rising. Companies must ensure security without compromising seamless customer journeys.
Today, risk and fraud teams face the following challenges:
✅ Identify risks early on
✅ Make decisions in real time
✅ Distinguish scammers from legitimate customers
✅ Balancing Security and Customer Experience
What challenges are on your mind?
Bot- and AI-powered attacks
Criminals are launching large-scale attacks on customer accounts, logins, and transactions. At the same time, AI makes it easier to create deceptively authentic identities and documents.
Stolen Identities
Through phishing, data breaches, and social engineering, criminals obtain personal information and misuse it to open accounts, order goods, or make purchases on credit.
Synthetic Identities
Real and artificially generated data are increasingly being combined to create new identities that initially appear unremarkable in many verification processes.
Account Takeover (ATO)
Through credential stuffing, data breaches, and social engineering, attackers gain access to existing customer accounts and then act on behalf of legitimate users.
First-Party Fraud
It's not always external attackers: In first-party fraud, customers dispute purchases, falsely report orders as fraudulent, or deliberately exploit return processes.
Payment and Accounts Receivable Fraud
Fraudsters use manipulated payment information to fraudulently obtain goods or services without any intention of paying, or to deliberately cause bad debt.
As SCHUFA, we have been helping companies for many years to identify fraud risks early on and reliably verify identities. Our experience shows that effectively addressing risks requires an up-to-date understanding of the fraud landscape and how it is evolving.
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To this end, we are conducting an industry analysis of companies in the e-commerce, mail-order, and services sectors.
Help Shape the Current Fraud Situation Now
Their experiences help shed light on current trends and provide new insights for fraud prevention.
Education plays a key role in the fight against fraud
Fraud prevention isn't just a concern for businesses. Many fraud attempts actually start with consumers—for example, through identity theft, social engineering, or phishing.
The more people know about current scams and can recognize warning signs, the harder it becomes for criminals to succeed.