Payments Fraud: Perception Versus Reality—A Conference Summary

Payments fraud can be broadly defined as any activity that uses information from any type of payments transaction for unlawful gain. Such fraud can be perpetrated on any type of payments device, including credit and debit cards, cash, checks, online or mobile payments and automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions. Payments fraud can be committed knowingly by a consumer (first-party fraud), or consumers can be victimized by fraudsters operating within financial institutions or as part of criminal enterprises (third-party fraud). Payments fraud has received extensive attention in the popular press and in public policy venues recently, and the payments industry is fighting the perception that fraud is now occurring at unmanageable levels. While there has been increasing emphasis on all types of payments fraud, fraud perpetrated by criminals has received special attention of late.