Visa warns. It’s already a robot war for our money

Visa is increasingly using artificial intelligence to keep up with increasingly clever e-commerce fraudsters. Paradoxically, today it is not the technology of payment systems but humans that become the weakest link – and this is what criminals take advantage of by massively using automation and generative AI.

Visa processes 4.3 billion cards and 335 billion transactions annually, and has invested EUR 10 billion in payment security over the last five years. Thanks to biometrics, 3D Secure and algorithms analyzing transactions in real time the company blocks over 150 million suspicious operations annually. This directly translates into a decrease in the fraud rate on European e-commerce platforms.

However, when the old-type attacks stopped working, fraudsters switched to social engineering attacks – they impersonate banks, stores or investment advisors, relying on psychology, emotions and time pressure, and also using automation brought by generative AI.

Generative models allow you to create e-mails, websites or documents that are almost indistinguishable from real ones, which makes classic, “visual” fraud recognition dramatically difficult. Research cited by Visa shows that people who confuse AI-generated content with authentic content are almost five times more likely to be scammed (63% vs. 14%), and those who thoughtlessly share content additionally increase their risk.

The effects are measurable: victims spend an average of two weeks trying to undo the problem, and the average financial loss reaches EUR 147.

Retailers are particularly vulnerable to the new wave of fraud and, fighting for the smoothest possible customer service, they automate product returns, complaints and refunds. AI makes it possible to submit exceptionally credible false claims – from fabricated invoices to fabricated photos of deliveries – which renders traditional warning signals ineffective.

In March, Visa will present ready-made AI solutions for detecting AI attacks at the RetailDetail Omnichannel & E-Commerce congress in Brussels. And also propose broader cooperation with the entire payment and trade sector as well as educational programs.

It’s an open war, and the use of cash is becoming more attractive than ever before. Because How can we sleep peacefully when the content of our wallet depends directly on who will field a better bot?