Payment Fraud Surges 25% as Criminals Exploit Network Weaknesses

Payment fraud has increased by roughly 25% according to a new report by Fraudio. The analysis highlights growing risks in complex payment networks. Fraudsters appear to be adopting more coordinated tactics across multiple layers of commerce. Fraudio’s data reveals that over 90% of observed fraud cases involved shared infrastructure. This includes IP addresses linked to many different cards. Such patterns point to organised attacks spanning cards, merchants, geographies and payment flows.

Transactions routed through submerchants showed higher fraud rates than direct merchant payments. Layered commerce models were found to carry elevated risk in the study.

Fraud activity was detected in multiple scenarios. It occurred both when 3D Secure (3DS) was not used and when it was used and succeeded. This suggests that even successful authentication does not guarantee security.

The report also notes a rise in Fraudio’s false-positive proxy. This indicates that legitimate customers may be incorrectly flagged by current fraud controls. The company argues for smarter strategies that detect shared infrastructure while reducing false positives. The findings suggest fraud is increasingly network-based. Controls must now assess the wider context of each transaction to stay effective. Fraudio recommends refining detection methods to protect approval rates and prevent disputes.