Capco US Payment Fraud Survey Reveals Consumer Experiences, Attitudes and Deepfake Concerns

The fraud types that most concern US consumers are card and card data theft (46%), identity theft (44%), purchases they did not make (40%) and account takeover (35%), according to a new survey of payments fraud conducted by global management and technology consultancy Capco, a Wipro company.

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Capco surveyed a representative sample of 1,000 US consumers between the ages of 18 and 75 years to capture their payment fraud experiences and relevant attitudes, including expectations around reimbursement and the desired balance between security and convenience.

Almost half of the survey respondents (49%) said they had experienced attempted payment fraud over the past two years, most notably in the form of purchases they did not make (45%); other fraud types included phishing (36%), card or card data theft (33%), fake online stores (27%), push payment fraud (26%) and account takeover (25%).

Nine out of ten respondents remain either very confident (53%) or somewhat confident (37%) that their primary financial institution will protect them. However, with fraudsters and cybercriminals turning to AI to enable their exploits, consumers worry that accounts are becoming more vulnerable.

A majority (69%) of respondents are concerned about ‘deep fake’ technology’s impact on voice biometrics and facial ID: 24% consider them ‘not entirely secure’, 6% feel these authentication methods are now ‘insecure’, while 39% worry they will come ‘under future threat’. 89% of respondents worry that online personal data could make impersonation easier or reveal answers to security questions.

Matthew Cohn, Partner & US Head of Banking & Payments at Capco, said: “Payment fraud in the US is becoming more organized, automated and sophisticated, with scammers increasing their use of modern technologies and AI-enabled tools. Our US Payment Fraud survey highlights the value consumers put on security and advanced fraud protection, as well as their concerns about key defenses including some forms of biometric authentication. Banks must move faster to detect and mend gaps emerging in their defenses as fraudster capabilities evolve ever more rapidly. With our deep industry knowledge, advisory expertise and innovation experience across technology, data and AI, Capco is ideally placed to help banks to navigate these complex challenges and achieve measurable outcomes with confidence.”

Capco’s associated US Payment Fraud report published today explores trends across five key types of fraud and offers recommended paths to counter emerging threats. These include new forms of multilayered defenses, improved coordination of internal teams, cross-institution information sharing, detection gap analysis, and AI-enabled real-time detection tools.

Other key findings in Capco’s US Payment Fraud survey include:

When it comes to balancing security and convenience, the largest percentage of respondents (42%) say security is their absolute priority.

• 32% say that while they put security first, they also want decent levels of convenience.
• 23% want to balance security and convenience.
• 4% put convenience first.

40% find complex passwords frustrating or inconvenient to use and 32% say the same about being sent security codes (e.g. multi-factor authentication).

• 28% find challenge/security questions frustrating or inconvenient.
• 20% find mobile/email notifications of account activity frustrating or inconvenient.

62% say their financial institution has provided them with information about deepfake threats and how to reduce associated risks.

• 26% say they have not been informed about deepfake threats.
• 12% could not recall whether they have been informed.

Security (63%) and advanced fraud protection (50%) are the most frequently cited ‘important factors’ [four selections permitted] when respondents are choosing a financial institution offering payment services. Other considerations include:

• Customer service quality and responsiveness (42%)
• Accessibility, e.g. 24/7 support (42%)
• Transaction speed and reliability (34%)
• Ease of user experience/convenience (31%)
• Brand reputation (30%).

Gregg Henzel, Managing Principal, US Financial Crime, Risk, Regulation and Finance at Capco, said: “Fraudsters are selling data, services and tools to each other as they build an AI-enabled criminal industry on a global scale. To strengthen defenses and preserve consumer trust, banks and other payment institutions must adopt a coordinated stance across each enterprise, the wider financial sector and other relevant industries. Keeping ahead in the arms race will mean constantly improving multi-layered defensive strategies, aligning internal teams, sharing more data and information with internal and external partners, selecting best-of-breed vendors, and embedding AI-powered analytics that draw on many different data dimensions to support real-time and near real-time decisions.”

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