A new report
from LexisNexis Risk Solutions reveals a dramatic shift in global fraud
patterns, with first-party fraud surpassing scams to become the leading form of
cybercrime attacks in 2024. The annual Cybercrime Report analyzed over 104
billion transactions across sectors, finding first-party fraud now accounts for
36% of all reported fraud cases - more than doubling from 15% the previous
year.
First-party
fraud involves consumers deliberately providing false information for financial
gain, including fraudulent loan applications, illegitimate chargeback claims,
and fake reports of undelivered goods. The report suggests economic pressures
including inflation and rising living costs have created conditions for this
opportunistic fraud to flourish, particularly affecting Buy Now, Pay Later
providers and financial institutions.
While overall
global attack rates showed relative stability in 2024 - with just a 1% increase
in human-initiated attacks and 15% decrease in bot attacks concerning regional
and sector trends emerged. The Asia-Pacific region experienced a 37% surge in
attack rates, while Communications, Media and Mobile companies saw attacks rise
15%. Financial Services institutions faced an 18% increase in automated bot
attacks.
"Organizations
face new challenges detecting first-party fraud as it requires different
approaches than combating scams or account takeovers," said Stephen Topliss of LexisNexis Risk Solutions. He warned of an
impending "AI-enabled wave" of sophisticated attacks, noting that
while defenses have improved, cybercriminals are rapidly adopting advanced
technologies.
The report
highlights password resets as a growing vulnerability, with 27% of
desktop-initiated reset attempts identified as fraudulent. Account takeover
attempts remain significant, representing 27% of global fraud cases, while
scams declined to 11% of reported incidents.
