November is the peak season for card fraud

[Carding Forum]

Analyst firm Feedzai investigated payment card fraud cases in 2021 and concluded that the peak period of activity for financial criminals and hackers last year was Black Friday (the day of massive sales in the United States), and this year the most dangerous month will be November.

The company analyzed information on 17.5 billion transactions both in cases of card settlements in an offline environment and in online transactions, and came to the following conclusions:

• Online scammers spend more money on stolen cards. These criminals spend as much as $ 900 in five days, while offline payment card thieves spend about $ 450 a week.
• Online fraud peaks in November, while offline payment card fraud picks up on Black Friday. Last year, the top 10 days of online payment fraud were in November, and stolen card transactions tripled in June 2021.
• The most popular times for online fraudulent transactions by criminals is from noon to 1 pm. Cases of theft of payment cards in real stores most often occur from 4 pm to 5 pm.
• In terms of days, online fraud is more popular on Mondays, while offline card fraud is more popular on Saturdays.
• The most common targets for fraudsters are grocery stores and supermarkets (25%), on the Internet - online electronics stores (11%) and discount services (10.2%).

As the holiday season approaches, Feedzai analysts predict that last year's level of card fraud will be surpassed, especially in November. And they warn users about the necessary precautions.