North America sees social engineering scams multiply by a factor of 10

"Reports of North American mule accounts have almost doubled in the last year," BioCatch Director of Global Fraud Intelligence Tom Peacock said. "This not only hints at the massive scope and scale of the money mule problem plaguing the world's financial institutions but also – more hopefully – the positive steps North American banks have taken in the last year to identify these laundering accounts."

BioCatch's new report also highlights the growing threats posed by GenAI tools and deepfakes, which in the hands of fraudsters allow them to launch a greater quantity of more sophisticated attacks that are more difficult to detect and prevent.

"As we outlined in our 2024 AI, Fraud, and Financial Crime Survey and ScamGPT white paper, artificial intelligence is super-charging fraud," BioCatch Global Advisory Director Seth Ruden said, "compounding its impact, and allowing bad actors to scale and sophisticate their scams with deepfakes and other devices. As the industry deploys the newest authentication methods in both account opening and account takeover processes, fraudsters will undoubtedly attack these as well."

Other key report findings:

The massive uptick in reported scams also presents another challenge for banks on the customer service front. The Emotional Undercurrent of Scams, a study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research and sponsored by BioCatch, highlights the human side of fraud and the devastating impact on scam victims following an attack.

"More than half of those surveyed said they'd lost trust in people and suffered emotional stress after falling victim to a scam," Javelin Strategy & Research Senior Analyst Suzanne Sando said. "Nearly one in five victims said their loss disrupted their family life. As these scams grow more prevalent and sophisticated, a data-driven approach that combines historical account data as well as behavioral and device intelligence is critical to stopping scams in real-time and saving victims and banks from significant losses."

Click here to access BioCatch's complete 2024 Digital Banking Fraud Trends in North America report.

About BioCatch:

BioCatch stands at the forefront of digital fraud detection, pioneering behavioral biometric intelligence grounded in advanced cognitive science and machine learning. BioCatch analyzes thousands of user interactions to support a digital banking environment where identity, trust, and ease coexist. Today, 34 of the world's largest 100 banks and 237 total financial institutions rely on BioCatch Connect™ to combat fraud, facilitate digital transformation, and grow customer relationships. BioCatch's Client Innovation Board – an industry-led initiative featuring American Express, Barclays, Citi Ventures, HSBC, and National Australia Bank – collaborates to pioneer creative and innovative ways to leverage customer relationships for fraud prevention. With more than a decade of data analysis, 93 registered patents, and unmatched expertise, BioCatch continues to lead innovation to address future challenges. For more information, please visit www.biocatch.com.

PR contact:

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[email protected]

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