Halloween is approaching, bringing an inevitable array of “Fright Night” movie marathons, haunted houses, and ghoulish decorations almost everywhere you turn. While it’s a fun time of year for most, fraud-fighters can find it to be overwhelmingly frightening. With identity-related cyberattack types getting more innovative and fraudsters becoming increasingly brazen, the customer account opening process can deliver some nightmarish results.
Black Widow and Iron Man costumes will undoubtedly be popular, but the real heroes are the fraud-fighters applying identity checks and other attack monitoring as critical lines of defense. They’re helping banks and other businesses, such as credit card companies and financial institutions, fight back against the scary specter of identity fraud, phishing attacks, credential stuffing, account takeover, and other fraud tactics and scams.
Effective fraud leaders know that account openings don’t have to be scary. With the right approach to identity verification, fraud prevention teams can turn the Halloween season into more pumpkin spice, and less blood and gore. Let’s learn how.
Access is the first, and most critical step for fraudsters, which is why they focus their efforts at the account opening phase. Businesses are eager to sign up new customers and often prioritize speed and ease of use over rigorous verification. The primary methodologies employed by fraudsters to gain access include:
Scared yet? No need to be, because by implementing attack rate fraud checks, banks and financial institutions can dramatically identify and shut down fraud at account opening. Let’s look at what banks and other types of businesses, such as credit card companies, should monitor:
Account opening fraud perpetually evolves and adapts, and as we saw above, it manifests itself in many ways. Because of that, it’s not always easy to know the specifics of what you’re seeing, but fraud teams typically can identify an attack based on certain behaviors.
Attack rate monitoring is among the most important defense mechanisms for fraud teams. It is a representation of the frequency and intensity of attempted fraudulent activities aimed at infiltrating the account opening process. Experienced fraud leaders understand that it is not just a matter of identifying if an attack occurs, but comprehending the scale and patterns of these attempts.
By tracking the attack rate meticulously, companies gain real-time insights into the malicious intent of cybercriminals. This enables proactive detection and analysis of potential threats, allowing for swift and informed countermeasures to be deployed. The attack essentially acts as a pulse on the vulnerability of the system, providing a tangible metric that helps in fine-tuning cybersecurity protocols and preparedness against emerging fraud tactics.
Early fraud detection is critical; the earlier an issue is discovered, the faster it can be eliminated and the less chance an attack can do harm to your organization. The attack rate serves as an early warning system, allowing organizations to identify anomalous patterns and swiftly respond to potential threats. In doing so, companies can substantially reduce the financial and reputational damage that could result from successful fraudulent account openings. And, since attack types change regularly, by monitoring the attack rate, fraud teams can allocate resources efficiently and strategically to fortify defenses where they are most needed.
“Early fraud detection is critical; the earlier an issue is discovered, the faster it can be eliminated and the less chance an attack can do harm to your organization…”
Ultimately, the attack rate is a vital indicator of an organization’s resilience – both in real-time and as a predictive measure – against cyber threats. With fraud becoming increasingly sophisticated, staying ahead necessitates a proactive stance. Technical leaders recognize that by monitoring attack rate metrics, and then using that information to operationalize their defenses, they can bolster and optimize security measures and foster more secure bank account onboarding processes.
When monitoring the attack rate at account opening, banks should focus on key metrics that provide valuable insights into the nature and intensity of fraudulent activities. These metrics aid in assessing the level of vulnerability and the effectiveness of fraud prevention measures. Here are the crucial metrics:
The approaches described in this blog will help banks and financial institutions take the scare out of the account onboarding process and ensure that you can increase users without fear of fraud and cybercrime encroaching on your systems.
Want to learn how Prove helps prevent account opening fraud while still delivering an optimal customer experience? Get a demo of the Prove platform to see it in action.
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