Visa’s latest report reveals that European airline fraud losses have climbed to $77.7 million over the past year (VisaNet MIS Fraud Insights) even as overall fraud rates have declined by 2.9%. This rise has been driven by increasingly sophisticated cross-border operations, but as 99% of this fraud in the region now occurs through e-commerce, this gives airlines a significant opportunity to strengthen their defences.
These types of fraud occur across a small number of high-risk corridors, with international sales accounting for around two-thirds (65%) of total losses.
Fraudsters exploit international transactions with complex schemes such as triangulation, where fraudsters act as middlemen by setting up fake travel sites with cheap deals,2 and using synthetic IDs to open accounts in order to abuse BNPL deals.3:
These schemes underscore the importance of intelligent…