2018
Can you guess what six items fraudsters targeted the most this holiday season?
Fraudster Wishlist
Designer Shoes
and Watches
Luxury goods are always popular with fraudsters, given they only need to steal one item to cash in on a big payday. Designer shoes and watches are ideal targets, because while they are valuable and easy to resell, they are not so expensive that retailers scrutinize each purchase with great care.
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Louboutin and Balenciaga pumps were attacked at almost double their normal rates, indicating a lively reseller marketplace.
Watches remained a popular target, with the Tissot Collection seeing attacks 2.5 times their normal rate.
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PS4s and Xboxs were extremely attractive targets this year, part of a trend that saw three times the typical number of attacks on gaming consoles over Thanksgiving weekend.
Limited edition consoles, like the Spiderman PS4 and Minecraft Xbox were of particular appeal, as fraudsters will likely be able to sell them at an even higher price point, thanks to their rarity.
Gaming Consoles
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Fleece hoodies and waterproof boots were hot targets over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Winter Apparel
Online items both affordable and expensive were targeted, showing that the seasonal market for such goods is more important than the cost of the individual items themselves.
Fraudsters are looking to cash in sooner rather than later on the value of their stolen goods.
Popular apparel items were influenced by the impending winter weather, with fraudsters looking to cash in on the value of their stolen apparel sooner rather than later.
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Fraud attacks on gift cards increased over the Thanksgiving weekend. With good customers buying so many this time of year as presents, criminals likely saw gift cards as easy targets that would go unnoticed in the holiday rush. Not only are they easy to liquidate, but less information is needed to complete a transaction and gratification is instant.
Gift Cards
The top industries targeted for gift card fraud were sports equipment and gaming goods, with Xbox digital goods seeing attack rates nearly ten times above average.
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Food and beverage brands are new to the e-commerce so fraudsters find the industry easy to attack. Alcohol was a popular target, with high-end silver tequila and cognac being the most attacked.
This type of alcohol hits the sweet spot for fraudsters: not too pricey, so they can slip under the radar of suspicion, and widely popular, so easy to resell.
Alcohol
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Last-Minute Flights
The most popular flights were domestic US flights, often taking place shortly after purchase, so fraudsters may be able to cash in before their illegitimate transaction is noticed.
Fraudsters know that many airlines and OTAs may not have fully automated fraud prevention and therefore struggle to review transactions accurately when they receive a flood of orders in a short time.
Fight Fraud This Holiday Season
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Airlines offering Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals saw an increase in fraud attacks this year. Fraudsters capitalized on these sales, knowing that brands may not have fully automated fraud prevention and therefore struggle to review an influx of transactions in a short time.
Along with the gift of increased online shopping, the holiday season also brings a big lump of coal: an increase in fraud. As customers flock to your site to purchase gifts, fraudsters capitalize on this surge in traffic to slip through the cracks unnoticed.
Download our new holiday white paper to learn:
Protect your retail operations with a scalable fraud prevention solution that defends you and your customers even during the busiest shopping days of the year.
How the right fraud tools can increase customer loyalty
The industries that criminals target most this time of year
The most common types of holiday retail fraud