Visa detects nearly $1bn in scam activity over six months
By Aboki Forex —
Visa detected nearly $1bn in scam-related payment activity between July and December 2025. The finding is contained in the company’s mid-year 2026 Biannual Threats Report released on Monday.
According to the payments company, scams have become the largest category of consumer payment fraud. Criminals are relying less on hacking payment systems and more on manipulating consumers into authorising transactions that look legitimate.
The report shows a shift in cybercrime. Fraudsters now exploit human behaviour rather than technological weaknesses. They use impersonation, fabricated urgency, and AI-generated content to deceive victims.
“Payments at a network level continue to get safer, but threats are evolving faster than ever,” said Paul Fabara, Visa’s Chief Risk and Client Services Officer. “Criminals are increasingly targeting people rather than technology, using deception, urgency, and AI-enabled tools to exploit trust.”
He added that addressing this shift requires continuous innovation and close collaboration across banks, merchants, policymakers, and the broader payments ecosystem.
The report suggests that stronger payment security has made it harder for criminals to compromise payment infrastructure directly. This has pushed them toward social engineering schemes that persuade consumers to approve transactions themselves.
Visa said fraud involving device tokens declined 9.6 per cent during the second half of 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier. Device tokens replace sensitive card details with unique digital identifiers. The decline indicates that stronger authentication measures are working.
The report identified scams as the fastest-growing source of financial harm to consumers. Fraudsters now impersonate trusted organisations, create false emergencies, and use AI tools to make their communications look more authentic.