Account takeover (ATO) fraud is an online scam where a trickster gets hold of valid credentials and uses them to take control of an account. Once the fraudster finds their way in, they pretend to be the actual account owners and may go to the extent of initiating multiple transactions, selling important data to black markets, changing account passwords, transferring or redeeming loyalty points, or any other thing that could earn them some cash. What a scammer does with your account depends on the type of account you hold.
Customers who are reluctant to change their passwords from one account to the next allows fraudsters to gain control of multiple accounts after a successful breach into one. Tricksters are also exploiting Tech in their account takeover endeavors— for instance, if they already have your email, bots can help them try multiple (even thousands) of possible passwords.
What are the red flags an Account Takeover is underway?
It can be challenging to spot transactions coming from an ATO fraudster because they may look more normal as they come from a familiar shopper with a record of initiating transactions. But there are some ATO red flags merchants should keep an eye on, here are the most common:
- The number of purchases goes up beyond what you consider reasonable for the shopper’s purchasing habits.
- Massive reward points transferals.
- Sudden multiple changes to an account at a go for things like email, address, password, or device.
- A rise in fraudulent disputes by the customer because the real cardholder is disagreeing with the charges on their card.
- Several “password reset” requests or multiple login attempts
Synthetic Identity Fraud
Synthetic identity is when scammers get your info, such as address, email, name, date of birth, and mixes them with some fabricated information to form an account. This approach is the trickster’s favourite trick for making fake credit or debit card purchases. Be warned; the fraudster uses the real customer’s name and exact details which makes it a very difficult cybercrime to detect as most. But you can prevent credit card fraud with Ivrnet and protect your customers from exploitation.
Denial of Service (DoS)
This is an attack trickster launch on large companies with the aim of shutting down the website in question. Denial of Service attack starts by tricksters exploiting a system’s vulnerability and using it to send huge piles of data to the entire network until the system breaks down.
Denial of service could take two forms; DoS where fraudsters attack through one computer or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) where they breach multiple computers.
The only way to stay safe from DoS and DDoS is to update your site’s software regularly. Also, make sure to keep track of data flow to check for unexplained increases in traffic. If possible, purchase extra bandwidth or use tools that can detect DoS attacks.
Conclusion
Attacks are dangerous to your company, no matter how small they seem. A little attempt could open doors to a massive heist. Remember, the more we adopt tech, the more we should discover loopholes and stop tricksters from successfully conducting digital assaults.