Visa has unveiled the efforts of its scam disruption practice which combines human and technology-driven processes to identify and prevent financial fraud.
Last year, Visa Scam Disruption (VSD) prevented £282m in attempted fraud globally, and stopped £347m in potential losses by blocking transactions on compromised European cards. It also identified and shut down over 450 fraudulent websites linked to a large-scale scam network in Europe.
Paul Fabara, Chief Risk and Client Services Officer at Visa, commented: “Visa has invested over $12bn in technology over the last five years, including to reduce fraud and enhance network security.
“At the same time, we have made a significant investment in our best weapon against scammers: our people. By combining our proprietary technology with the unique experiences and perspective our talent brings, we can more effectively identify and defeat even the savviest scammers.”
As noted by Fabara, Visa employs a cross-disciplinary team that oversees mitigation strategies across a range of scams. These professionals come from an array of sectors, including AI, military and data visualisation.
They work together on investigations that aim to identify and combat scams before they inflict significant damage with the help of preventive technology, such as GenAI, before partnering with financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to disrupt criminal networks.
Fraud has increasingly become more sophisticated over recent years. This comes as bad actors are more commonly working in large groups with access to emerging technologies. Natalie Kelly, Chief Risk Officer, Visa Europe, acknowledged this change, stating that the “nature of fraud” has evolved alongside payments over the decades.
She said: “Scammers are leveraging advanced tools and technology, including AI, to organise and execute attacks at pace – but we remain several steps ahead in order to protect consumers here in Europe and around the world.”
Europe has seen a sharp increase in fraud and scams. This has led to regulators attempting to fight back with controversial rules, such as the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR)’s Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud reimbursement scheme.
While this scheme was criticised by many stakeholders who believed social media companies need to be held to the same accountability, it was put in place to soften the impact fraud can have on victims – a point emphasised by Michael Jabbara, SVP and Global Head of PERC at Visa.
“Fraud usually has no face, but a scam is personal,” Jabbara said. “These scams directly impact the lives of victims, sometimes with devastating effects.
“Visa also collaborates with intelligence partners, law enforcement, and industry working groups to ensure that not only do we shut these scammers down, but the other members of the ecosystem are also equipped to spot red flags on their own.”
