High volumes of bot attacks are anticipated around holidays

As transaction volume increases, so do fraudulent purchases. Mobile channels seem to be the starting point for most shoppers, accounting for up to 54% of retail web traffic. And the channel is now home to roughly 33% of all online purchases. However, for merchants, the mobile revolution isn’t entirely safe. With a growing number of consumers opening and managing accounts on their mobile devices, more of them are saving credit card information to retailer sites and apps, making them tempting targets for cybercriminals wielding stolen login credentials.

Meanwhile, the adoption of same-day shipping for physical items is enabling last-minute, and presumably desperate shoppers, who tend to spend a bit more. The fraud risk is a significant one, as cybercriminals using stolen credit cards can do a lot of damage with little lag time for retailers to catch on. The most targeted segment for online purchases overall is cosmetics and perfume, which saw fraud rates skyrocket 171.9% in October 2016.

Gift card recipients overwhelmingly spend more than the monetary value of the card, leading to higher revenue. In recent years, this has even opened up a large online market for gift card trading. Cybercriminals will see the opportunity here, as they can monetize stolen, counterfeit and fraudulent gift cards by selling them for cash at online auction sites and other venues.

The ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report has covered attacks detected within the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network from July through September 2017.