Digital fraud attack rates recorded in the LexisNexis Digital Identity Network platform continued climbing in 2023, increasing 19% year over year (YOY), maintaining a trajectory first noted in the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report 2022. Organisations operating in North America (up 43% YOY) or in the e-commerce sector (up 59% YOY) sustained the greatest increase in fraud attack rates.

Gaming and gambling operators reported a 103% increase in bot volume, seemingly drawing bots away from other industries. Unsophisticated bots still serve a purpose, providing bad actors an efficient means to test data either for resale or direct attack. Bot traffic followed a surge of legitimate consumers flocking to gaming and gambling operators in multiple countries with modernising regulations.

Fraud thrives in changing circumstances, such as the widespread and ongoing adoption of new technologies. The initial application of generative AI to fraud attacks in 2023 gives cause for concern now, but will likely be regarded as unsophisticated with the hindsight of a few more years’ innovation. Take, for example, how fraudsters continue to hone their illicit exploitation of instant payment systems as a vehicle to target consumers via authorised payment fraud (scams). As more consumers adopt instant payments, and as more instant payments platforms enable international transfers, fraudsters will likely continue to exploit the payments channel.

Scams have grown into a pandemic, leading to significant regulatory activity around the world in 2023. Many regulators focused on operational or technical requirements to defend against scams, likely waiting to see the results of some countries’ focus on liability and reimbursement, beginning with the UK. Collaboration is growing around the world, including regulated data-sharing initiatives in Brazil and Hong Kong, and collaborative consortiums beginning in the United Arab Emirates and in Singapore.

Every year, the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report illustrates the power of organisations collaborating across international and industry boundaries. Reports of confirmed and suspected fraud and abuse from seemingly unrelated corners of the global market help to improve all participants’ confidence in clearing the path for trusted consumers and transactions. We thank the many organisations whose anonymised contributions provide the basis for this report, and for the tenacity to continue making our world a safer place, together.

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