Post Pandemic Halloween: A Bonanza for Fraudsters
In recent years, Halloween has evolved beyond just a spooky holiday and into a significant economic event, especially during the post pandemic era. The celebration, characterized by costumes, candy, and decorations, has become a massive consumer behavior driven occasion in various parts of the world.
Recent survey from the National Retail Federation revealed that Halloween spending for the year 2023 was set to shatter previous records, with a projected total of $12.2 billion, marking a substantial increase over the previous year’s record of $10.6 billion, emphasizing Halloween’s continued economic growth and importance.
While this growth is exciting for businesses and consumers alike, it also presents a unique opportunity for scammers and fraudsters for most types of frauds. Halloween’s rising economic significance makes it a lucrative occasion for scammers and fraudsters looking to exploit the season’s excitement. The fervor surrounding Halloween often leads individuals to lower their guard, making them more susceptible to various types of frauds.
5 Types of Frauds You Need to Be Aware of This Halloween
(and how to tackle them!)
#1 Horrifying Scare Calls
How It Works: Scammers employ fear tactics by making phone calls to unsuspecting telecommunication users, often during the Halloween season. These callers may deliver chilling messages, warning users of impending doom or supernatural curses unless they comply with demands, which typically involve disclosing personal information, making payments, or performing specific actions.
Solution: SCAMBlock solution can actively block high-risk, suspicious scam calls associated with scare tactics, such as ghostly threats or curses. The new features of SCAMBlock allow subscribers to have personalized call filters and provide them real-time and automated voice alerts for suspected calls, bolstering protection to block scam calls.
#2 Trick-or-Treat Loyalty Scam
How It Works: Scammers send enticing e-wallet or mobile money offers to users, promising generous Halloween-themed loyalty rewards. Users are asked to provide additional personal information, including mobile money or e-wallet account details, to claim the rewards. Users may fall victim to identity theft and related types of frauds, and their e-wallet accounts may be compromised.
Solution: Mobile money solutions from Neural Technologies, leveraging AI and machine learning technologies to provide comprehensive revenue protection solutions for digital payment fraud and risks, including top-ups, payments, transactions, and withdrawals.
Neural Technologies Mobile Money Solutions:
>> Fraud Management
>> Revenue & Business Assurance
>> Credit Risk Management
>> Application Risk
>> Anti-Money Laundering
#3 Payment Fraud: The Real Trick
How It Works: Payment fraud during Halloween is a crafty scheme that exploits the holiday’s increased e-wallet and digital payment transactions, especially when people are making purchases for costumes, decorations, and parties. Scammers may use phishing emails, disguised payment requests, or steal payment information, resulting in financial losses for victims.
Solution: The Credit & Application Risk solution, integrating machine learning models, incorporates sophisticated KYC technologies to help mitigate fraud risk in mobile money transactions, backed by comprehensive transaction data monitoring and automated analysis to ensure ongoing oversight of mobile transactions, that offers a way to address early mobile wallet risks.
#4 Ghostly Types of Frauds Causing Revenue Leakage
How It Works: Revenue leakage scams, including subscription fraud, international revenue sharing fraud, premium rate services scams, roaming fraud, and identity theft, can pose significant challenges to service providers, especially during the Halloween season. During this festive time, scammers may exploit the holiday spirit and increased consumer activity to carry out these deceptive tactics.
Solution: Providers need a comprehensive Revenue & Business Assurance solution capable of monitoring and analyzing unusual trends on customer accounts, instituting more stringent identity verification procedures, and fortifying security protocols to thwart fraudulent activities, thus preventing revenue leakage and safeguarding income streams. Our solution considers evolving consumer behavior in digital payment and leverages machine learning models for enhanced security.
#5 International Revenue Sharing Fraud (IRSF) Scare
How It Works: IRSF is often prevalent during Halloween and similar festive periods, involves fraudsters leasing premium rate numbers, infiltrating businesses’ phone systems, and inflating call traffic. These deceptive calls often occur during the cover of night, especially during Halloween and other holiday weekends, leaving companies in the dark until they receive the unsettling phone bills, while the scammers divert a significant portion.
Solution: Our advanced Fraud Management solution provides real-time fraud risk management, protection and prevention, which is vital in detecting and preventing unusual activities, various types of frauds. It analyzes network and transaction data to identify any types of frauds in real-time, utilizing machine learning models to adapt to changing consumer behavior in digital payment scenarios, helping providers proactively combat these threats.
Fight Different Types of Frauds with Neural Technologies Revenue Protection
In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape, the threat of fraud looms large, especially during Halloween season when mischievous spirits and digital payment tricksters abound.
At Neural Technologies, we offer robust Revenue Protection solutions to detect suspicious transactions, safeguard sensitive data, and eradicate fraudulent activities lurking in the shadows. Our cutting-edge Revenue Protection suite of solutions serves as impenetrable shields against the various types of fraud that can disrupt your operations and impact your customers.
Don’t let frauds haunt you this Halloween – fortify your defenses with Neural Technologies today!
Feel secure this Halloween and beyond. Get in touch with us today to explore our solutions.
